Pirates Prospect Watch: Quinn Priester Strikes Out Joey Votto

Pittsburgh Pirates prospect Quinn Priester’s first start of 2023 didn’t go they way he would have liked, but he was able to accomplish something that might at least make him smile.

Former National League MVP Joey Votto is currently on a rehab assignment for the Louisville Bats, the Triple-A affiliate for the Cincinnati Reds, and Priester struck out Votto in their first matchup of the game.

After Votto worked the count full, Priester was able to get Votto looking at a fastball for strike three as he had a tidy 1-2-3 first inning.

Unfortunately for Priester, his following innings didn’t go as well. The Pirates’ top pitching prospect allowed six runs on nine hits in 3.2 innings. He walked two and struck out four while 50 of his 75 pitches went for strikes.

Priester is considered to be the Pirates’ fourth-best overall prospect according to MLB Pipeline. Pittsburgh drafted the right-hander out of high school in Illinois in the first round of the 2019 MLB draft.

Although Votto singled to right field in their second battle, Priester can always say he struck out a future Hall of Famer while just 22 years old.

The Indians fell to 0-4 to begin the season after dropping the game to Louisville 7-2.

In Other News…

Pirates’ prospect Carmen Mlodzinski tossed a scoreless eighth inning for Indianapolis. The right-hander didn’t allow a baserunner and struck out a pair of hitters. He lowered his ERA to 3.86 in the early stages of the season.

Catcher Endy Rodriguez reached base on a walk in the sixth inning. Outside of him, there isn’t much of anything to share on the Indians’ hitters in terms of Pirates’ prospects.