Quinn Priester's incredible Brewers streak will make Pirates fans spiral

Quinn Priester’s stunning success in 2025 for the Milwaukee Brewers has been delightful for plenty of baseball fans, except for those with loyalties to the Pittsburgh Pirates or Boston Red Sox (Priester’s former clubs). While the Red Sox are bewildered, Priester’s emergence might sting the most for Pirates fans, since Pittsburgh was the team that originally drafted him with the No. 18 overall selection in the 2019 Major League Baseball Draft.

Baseball minds inside the Pirates and Red Sox organizations are wondering about Priester, ‘Where was this magic when we had him?’ Priester made his MLB debut with Pittsburgh back on July 17, 2023, and it wasn’t pretty. The right-hander allowed seven runs that day and didn’t fare much better the rest of the season, finishing the campaign with a 7.74 ERA in the big leagues across 50 innings.

A 2-6 record and 5.04 ERA in 2024 didn’t improve Priester’s stock in Pittsburgh’s organization. He was traded to the Red Sox on July 29, 2024. Less than nine months later, Boston sent Priester to the Brewers.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Quinn Priester’s utter dominance with the Brewers is making Pirates fans cringe

Priester picked up another win in a Brewers uniform on Thursday night against the Los Angeles Angels, allowing just three hits across 5 2/3 innings. He also struck out 10 batters. Priester is now 13-2 on the season since joining the Brewers, making everyone associated with the Red Sox and Pirates shake their heads in disbelief.

Then there’s the streak to talk about. With Thursday’s victory, the Brewers have now won Priester’s last 16 starts, which, per OptaSTATS, is the longest such streak for an MLB pitcher aged 25 or younger since the New York Yankees’ Whitey Ford.

Priester turned 25 on September 15. He was electric on Thursday night, striking out eight of the first nine Angels batters he faced.

Here’s another stat that will add insult to injury for Pirates fans. Per The Athletic’s Jayson Stark, Milwaukee’s 16 straight victories in Priester’s last 16 starts match the number of games that Pittsburgh has won all season when Paul Skenes is on the mound.

Priester’s emergence is another reminder not to give up on young talent too soon, something the Pirates should keep in mind moving forward. On that note, the Pirates should also take extra care to invest in pitching talent that is already MLB-certified, starting with Skenes.

Whenever a player leaves your organization on disappointing terms and finds success elsewhere, fans begin to question the efficacy of the franchise, if only a little. Situations like Priester’s happen to all teams, not just the Pirates, but that doesn’t make it any easier to digest in Pittsburgh these days.