Pittsburgh Pirates: Quinn Priester Shows What The Hype Is About

The Pittsburgh Pirates took a high school pitcher in the first round of the 2019 MLB Draft. He is currently showing why there is so much hype surrounding him.

The Pittsburgh Pirates previous regime drafted high school pitched Quinn Priester with their final first round pick. Despite seeing issues developing pitchers in the past, most recently that includes Mitch Keller, Priester represented an upside arm from a cold weather state. He had a feel for his changeup, something rare for a high schooler.

However, that’s not what gives Priester so much hype. The young right handed pitcher throws in the mid to upper 90s with his fastball and pairs that with a high spin curveball. He has recently developed a slider to give him another secondary offering, a pitch he used at the Futures Game this summer.

Last fall, Priester really took off. He showed his stuff and scouts were impressed. This led to him being the number 58 prospect by Baseball America and 52nd best prospect by MLB Pipeline. There were plenty of articles discussing his ceiling and how Priester could develop into being a top 25 prospect and the top pitching prospect. He is currently showing why.

Priester has pitched all season in High-A throwing 85 innings. In those 85 innings he has a 2.86 ERA, 55.8 percent groundball rate, 25.1 percent strikeout rate, and 8.6 percent walk rate. He’s been much better recently. In the month of August he has thrown 23 innings with a 2.35 ERA and 36.3 percent strikeout rate, including his 13 strikeouts over six innings in his last start. Priester is really starting to show his stuff.

This offseason there was a ton of hype around Quinn Priester and his potential future. He has backed that up this season, but recently he has really shown why. He has high spin pitches, something this front office likes, and a mid 90s fastball. The arrow continues to point up on the Pirates righty.