The Pirates are calling up one other of their high prospects, as Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Publish-Gazette (Twitter hyperlinks) that right-hander Quinn Priester is predicted to make his MLB debut on Monday in a begin in opposition to the Guardians. The Bucs might want to make strikes to each clear house on the energetic roster and open a spot for Priester on the 40-man roster.
The 22-year-old Priester was the 18th general decide of the 2019 draft, and each MLB Pipeline and The Athletic’s Keith Regulation ranked him inside their preseason top-100 prospects lists in every of the final three years. Pipeline at the moment has Priester rated 54th amongst all prospects in baseball, describing him as “super-athletic on the mound and at instances has proven he generally is a very environment friendly strike-thrower.”
Priester made his Triple-A debut in 2022, albeit tossing solely 9 1/3 innings on the Pirates’ high affiliate. It was one thing of a compressed yr general for Priester since he missed the primary two months of the 2022 marketing campaign because of an indirect harm, and his 90 1/3 complete innings final season have been unfold over 4 completely different minor league ranges. The righty’s first full Triple-A season hasn’t precisely been dominant, as Priester has a 4.31 ERA over 87 2/3 innings, with a modest 22.4% strikeout charge and 9.3% stroll charge. A grounder specialist, Priester has a 53.8% groundball charge and a .316 BABIP this yr, which may lend itself to his solely okay Triple-A numbers.
Priester has a four-pitch repertoire, headlined by a plus curveball and changeup. His fastball attracts considerably blended evaluations, as Regulation feels “he’ll most likely have to emphasise his offspeed stuff over his 92-96 mph fastball, which performs down from its velocity.” On the flipside, Pipeline provides Priester’s fastball a 60-grade, and feels he can add extra velocity over time.
Earlier than Paul Skenes was drafted first general final week, Priester had been the highest pitching prospect in Pittsburgh’s farm system, and he’ll now turn out to be the newest member of the Pirates’ youth motion to make his debut within the Present. Given how accidents have thinned out the rotation, Priester will get loads of possibilities to stay round if he pitches effectively, and extra alternative would possibly emerge after the commerce deadline if Wealthy Hill is dealt elsewhere.
