Pittsburgh Pirates: Quinn Priester Deserves an Opportunity

The Pittsburgh Pirates need to do the right thing and give one of their top pitching prospects a chance this year.  The right-hander has earned it.

It is the time of the year when rosters expand.  Teams across Major League Baseball will expand their Big League rosters to 28 players.  The Pittsburgh Pirates will likely be adding several young players to their roster.  One would think Cal Mitchell and/or Travis Swaggerty will be one of those players.

Another young prospect who should get a chance by the end of the year is Quinn Priester.  Priester, who is the Pittsburgh Pirates top pitching prospect, has done nothing but impress this season.  Outside of some rehab starts, the right-handed pitcher has spent the whole year at Double-A Altoona.  Much like Roansy Contreras did in 2021.

The Pittsburgh Pirates need to reward Quinn Priester like they did Conteras last season.  Contreras along with Oneil Cruz was called up to debut in the last series of the season and both were memorable.  Contreras showed the power stuff that fans had been hearing about.  Cruz immediately showed off his raw power, hitting a home run on one knee essentially.

Priester deserves this chance as well.  He has pitched great at the Double-A level, a level that teams consider to be the most competitive anymore. The Illinois native has pitched to a 2.45 ERA across 12 starts.  He has also struck out 61 hitters in 58.2 innings.

Like Contreras, Priester has been doing this at Double-A as a 21-year-old.  Contreras made 12 starts at Double-A before getting a chance at the Big League level.  Everything that the team did with Contreras last year makes sense for Priester this year.

Priester is one of the few prospects in the Pittsburgh Pirates system who could develop into a top-of-the-rotation arm.  In fact, the team needs that to happen.  He is dominating at Double-A. It is time to see if that will transition in the Big League level.  Give him a chance this year to get his feet wet and hopefully next year he will be one of the regular 5 starters.