A More Refined Approach: Quinn Priester Maturing Into Better Pitcher (+)
After another disappointing season at the major league level, the Pittsburgh Pirates and their fans are forced to look toward the future. A key component to the Pirates’ future is former first-round pick Quinn Priester.
The 22-year-old Priester was drafted 18th overall in the 2019 MLB Draft and has risen through the Pirates’ ranks at a good clip.
To start the ’22 season, Priester was sidelined due to an oblique injury. Priester’s oblique kept him out of live game action until June 9, when he made a rehab start for the Pirates’ Single-A affiliate in Bradenton.
Priester then moved up to High-A in Greensboro on June 14, marking his final rehab start before making his Double-A debut on June 19.
On paper, Priester had one of his best seasons while with the Pirates. In Double-A alone, Priester put forth a 2.87 ERA, 3.23 FIP, 75 strikeouts, 22 walks while surrendering just four home runs.
Priester performed enough to get the invite to Triple-A towards the end of the ’22 season and he impressed in his first start.
Priester pitched five shutout innings in the aforementioned start, struck out six, and allowed four baserunners (two hits and two walks).
As the season ended, Priester was invited to the Arizona Fall League. Not only will Priester face some hefty competition, but he will also be able to make up some lost time due to his injury early in the season.
Most people during the off-season would take some time off and recoup from a long and grueling season, but not Priester.
When the Fall League closes, Priester will eventually travel to Central Pennsylvania to a facility called FullReps Baseball. Priester has been traveling to FullReps for a while and working with a gentleman named Scott Swanson, among others.
One of the biggest changes in Priester’s game during the season was introducing his two-seam fastball, which seems to be a big pitch in the Pirates’ organization now.
“When I first met him, Quinn always threw both his four-seam and two-seam fastball,” Swanson told Pittsburgh Baseball Now. “His four-seam has always had a ton of life and had a lot of vertical break to it. Quinn has been told his whole life to throw the four-seam. On a personal side with Quinn, he’s always thrown a two-seam, and he’s felt very comfortable with it.”
Swanson continued to state that the two-seam grip has always come natural to him, or at least since he’s known, Priester.
“When you look at the analytics and the 3D mapping, the two-seam tunnels rather well with his arsenal. It’s a really good pitch with the horizontal break it produces. One of the pitches it pairs best with is his changeup because it’s on the same trajectory.”
The changeup is a tricky pitch to master, but once you figure it out and can throw it with confidence, it becomes a major weapon.
“During the ’21 off-season, Quinn specifically threw bullpen sessions with just a changeup. One of the biggest changes we have seen with Quinn’s changeup is his overall movement. He’s learned to slow down a lot, and being a strong kid, he’s always tried to overpower everybody, but he’s letting things work organically now.”
Intensity and competitiveness are two big traits any athlete can have, and Priester embodies both of those traits tenfold.
“Everything he does is super competitive,” Swanson claimed. “But with a little more growth and maturity, he’s starting to realize that nothing in life is perfect. I think that growth and maturity is a reason he’s had so much success this year.”
Swanson used a rather perfect example when discussing Priester and his workhorse mentality.
“I like to equate Quinn to a racehorse, and some horses just need to run. There are days when we have to pump the brakes and manage his workload, but Quinn is an athlete that just can’t stop completely. As long as his programming and training are done at an adequate time between his throwing, he should be fine. His workload is always going to be high because he’s always trying to figure it out.”
The jury is still out on if Priester can become a mainstay at the major league level, but a more refined and aware Quinn Priester is never a bad thing.
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