Pirates News: Quinn Priester activated, former Dodgers reliever DFA'd after poor showing

The Pittsburgh Pirates made a flurry of roster moves on Tuesday, not the least of which was activating starting pitcher Quinn Priester from the 15-day injured list.

Priester was Pittsburgh's first-round pick (No. 18 overall) in the 2019 MLB Draft, and he made his major league debut last year. He had a rocky start to the 2024 season, going 0-5 with a 4.83 ERA in six starts, and he is 3-8 with a 6.61 ERA in 16 games all-time.

The right-hander, who has since gone 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA (nine innings, three earned runs) in two starts with the Triple-A Indianapolis Indians, was placed on the injured list June 6 with a right lat muscle injury. He returns to the Pirates' active roster ahead of a six-game road trip while starters Jared Jones and Bailey Falter remain injured and unavailable.

To make room for Priester, the Pirates optioned outfielder Edward Olivares to Triple-A Indianapolis. Olivares was batting .224 with five home runs and 23 RBI.

The Justin Bruihl experiment comes to a timely end in Pittsburgh

Pirates reliever Justin Bruihl also accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Indianapolis on Tuesday, ending the left-hander's monthlong stint in Pittsburgh. After signing him to a major league contract on June 6 when Priester landed on the IL, the Pirates designated Bruihl for assignment over the weekend.

After spending the last two seasons bouncing around the league, Bruihl came to Pittsburgh last month in desperate need of a reset. The Pirates brought him in with the hope that he could provide some stability to their shaky bullpen.

Unfortunately, the experiment failed. In seven appearances for the Pirates, Bruihl surrendered six runs on nine hits and a walk across 5 2/3 frames. Now, he returns to Triple-A, where he has experienced moderate success this year, posting a 2.89 ERA in 28 innings split between Indianapolis and the Cincinnati Reds' affiliate in Louisville.

Bruihl still has a path back to the majors if the Pirates choose to add him back to their 40-man roster before the end of the season. But if he wasn't even good enough for a Pirates bullpen that entered Tuesday ranked 26th in the league with a 4.51 ERA, we're not holding our breath.