Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects: Quinn Priester Pitches Well in Surprise Saguaros Victory
Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitching prospect Quinn Priester turned in a strong start as he helped lead the Surprise Saguaros to a victory on Saturday
On Saturday, the Surprise Saguaros defeated the Salt Water Rafters 6-3. With the victory, the Saguaros improved to 5-1 in Arizona Fall League play. In the victory, the Saguaros were led by a strong start from one of the Pittsburgh Pirates top pitching prospects.
Quinn Priester started for the Saguaros in their victory. This was Priester’s second start of the Arizona Fall League season, and the better start of the two. In the start he looked more like the Priester the Pittsburgh Pirates saw during the season.
On Saturday, Priester pitched 5 innings for the Saguaros and allowed 2 runs. Both of the runs that Priester allowed were earned. He allowed four hits, walked a batter, allowed a home run and struck out five. 42 of the 61 pitches he threw were for strikes, which is a strong 68.9% strike rate.
Through two AFL starts Priester has allowed 4 earned runs on seven hits and two home runs in 8 innings pitched. He has walked four batters and struck out eight. If Priester can continue to improve as the AFL season goes on he will just further solidify himself as a prospect who will open the 2023 season on the doorstep of the major leagues.
Priester was featured in the latest FanGraphs prospect rankings update. He checks in as the 88th best prospect in all of baseball, and the 5th best prospect in the Pirate farm system. The former first-round pick continues to look like a future top of the rotation arm in the making.
Only one other member of the Pirate farm system saw playing time with the Saguaros on Saturday. This player was Blake Sabol who started at catcher. This was Sabol’s first start at catcher during AFL play.
Sabbel finished the game 1-for-4 with a run scored. He now has eight plate appearances thus far in AFL playing, and is 2-for-6 with two walks and a RBI. Sabol is another prospect who should make his MLB debut at some point in 2023.