The Pittsburgh Pirates have promoted right-handed pitcher Quinn Priester for his big-league debut, the team announced Saturday. He'll make his first start Monday against the Cleveland Guardians, according to manager Derek Shelton. Priester made his start in the minors on Friday night, but threw just 15 pitches before departing.
Priester, 22, has spent the season in Triple-A, accumulating a 4.31 ERA and a 2.40 strikeout-to-walk ratio across 18 starts. He has a full arsenal, including a pair of low-90s fastballs, two breaking balls, and a changeup. Priester's most effective bat-missing pitch this season, according to Statcast data, has been his slider (42.4% whiff rate). He did not rank in CBS Sports' top three for the Pirates system last winter. Baseball America, however, recently placed him sixth, praising his curveball and noting the suboptimal shape of his four-seam fastball while concluding that he has the upside of becoming a workhorse mid-rotation starter.
The 18th overall pick in the 2019 draft, Priester is the latest in a series of former first-round picks to reach the shores of Pittsburgh. Within the last month alone, the Pirates have also promoted outfielder/catcher Henry Davis, infielder Nick Gonzales, and righty reliever Carmen Mlodzinski.
The Pirates rotation currently includes Mitch Keller, Rich Hill, Johan Oviedo, and Osvaldo Bido. Pittsburgh has optioned rotation alternatives like Roansy Contreras and Luis L. Ortiz to the minors in recent weeks due to poor performance. Priester, then, may have a real chance to establish a foothold on a rotation job for the long haul.
The Pirates enter Saturday with a 41-50 record on the season, putting them 8 1/2 games back in the National League Central. The Pirates are also nine games back of the pace for the NL's final wild-card spot.
