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Pittsburgh Pirates: Four Prospects to Watch the Rest of the 2022 Season

By Noah Wright

Bishop Eustace/s Anthony Solometo delivers a pitch during the Diamond Classic final between Bishop Eustace and Williamstown. played in Alcyon Park in Pitman on Wednesday, May 26, 2021. Bishop Eustace defeated Williamstown, 8-1.High School Baseball Diamond Classic Final 4
Bishop Eustace/s Anthony Solometo delivers a pitch during the Diamond Classic final between Bishop Eustace and Williamstown. played in Alcyon Park in Pitman on Wednesday, May 26, 2021. Bishop Eustace defeated Williamstown, 8-1.High School Baseball Diamond Classic Final 4 /
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Pittsburgh Pirates
DENVER, CO – JULY 11: Quinn Priester #40 of National League Futures Team pitches against the American League Futures Team at Coors Field on July 11, 2021 in Denver, Colorado.(Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images) /

With the second half of baseball about to start, who are some Pittsburgh Pirates prospects to watch in the later half of summer?

The first half of the 2022 minor league season saw many Pittsburgh Pirates prospects perform well. Matt Gorski, Ji-Hwan Bae, and Mike Burrows are just three of the many names that did well. But as we head into the second half of the 2022 season, many more prospects could make a name for themselves.

Last year, the Pirates had many top prospects perform much better down the stretch than they did at the start of the season. There’s still plenty of season left for some of these prospects to turn things around. With that being said, who are some prospects we should keep an eye on as the second half of 2022 rolls around?

RHP Quinn Priester

The Pittsburgh Pirates’ top pitching prospect Quinn Priester did not pitch much in the first half of the 2022 campaign. He missed the first two months of the season due to an oblique injury. Since returning, he has only pitched 27 innings.

But Priester looks like he’s back to full strength. Since reaching Double-A, Priester has tossed 21.1 innings allowing just five earned runs, having a ground ball rate of 52.6%, and no home runs. He’s struck out 24.4% of batters faced while having a 7% walk rate. Overall, pretty good numbers in his return to Altoona.

Priester also pitched well in the second half of last season. Outside of one clunker start at the very end of 2021, Priester had a 2.08 ERA, 3.40 FIP, and 1.06 WHIP. The talented right-hander struck out 27.3% of batters faced while having a solid 8.3% walk rate. Priester has always been great at inducing ground balls and had just a 0.52 HR/9 in this time.

Priester has the potential to become a long-term rotation anchor for the Pirates. He has one of the best curveballs in the minor leagues, and his other stuff looks decent but could be better. Either way, a big second half from Priester could put him on track to make his big league debut this year and become a key part of the rotation in 2023.

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