Quinn Priester: Numbers not telling tale of Spring
Quinn Priester has put a very strong argument together to be in the Opeing Day rotation.
A former first-round pick back in 2019, to say that Quinn Priester’s rookie season with the Pirates didn’t go well may be an understatement.
That being said, Priester has been much more confident-looking and overall better on the mound this Spring.
Stats can be misleading, especially when it has been one swing of the bat that has inflated things for him.
Of the seven earned runs Priester has allowed so far, five came in his March 10th start against the Philadelphia Phillies. Four of those five went on a grand slam in the final inning he pitched.
Priester has allowed seven earned runs on 10 hits and one walk while striking out 10 in 12.1 innings this Spring.
Outside of that start against the Phillies, he has allowed just two earned runs across 8.1 innings pitched.
Even if the overall stat line wasn’t ideal, you could see something start to click for Priester in that outing, and it’s been a tale of two halves so far through four games this Spring.
He threw 60 pitches in his first two games, getting just five whiffs on 33 swings (15%), and had a Called Strike + Whiff rate (CSW%) of 18.3%.
During his past two games, including Friday night’s against the Yankees, he’s posted a 39.6% whiff rate (23/58) and a 32 CSW%.
On Friday, Priester got 13 whiffs on 27 swings, including three on Juan Soto, causing the Yankees outfielder to go 0-2 with a strikeout and a weakly hit grounder.
Leading with his sinker/slider (39 of 58 pitches), Priester got ahead of hitters and induced a lot of contact straight into the dirt.
Staying ahead of hitters will be essential for Priester, but showing that he’s getting comfortable with his stuff by inducing 10 or more whiffs in back-to-back games is a really good sign.
The first three spots in the rotation are filled, but Priester is making a solid case for one of the final two inclusions. He’s one out away from fully graduating from prospect status, which could now come sooner than initially thought.
The key is that Priester looks like he has a plan on the mound and has been executing that plan, at least recently.
The K vs. Soto was a thing of beauty, and in general he looked especially good against the Yankees' lefties. I think a key was the ~95 velo on the fastball which allowed his slider to be dominant.
My rotation to start as of right now is 1. Keller 2. Perez 3. Ortiz 4. Gonzales 5. Priester in that pitching order to not have Gonzales and Perez go back to back. They then have German, Lauer, Jones, Skenes and Anderson in triple A as good depth. As well as I think Contreras or falter in the bullpen if needed. I like where they are at and really like the lineup.