Baseball America posted two articles that spoke highly of two Pittsburgh Pirates right-handed pitching prospects who didn’t make their top 100 prospects list earlier this week. Quinn Priester was on their list of players who just missed the top 100, while Bubba Chandler was mentioned among the players who could jump into the top 100.
The article for Priester mentioned all of the prospects who received top 150 votes from the writers at Baseball America. They noted that Chandler, Nick Gonzales and Liover Peguero each received votes. Only Priester was mentioned among the players who just missed the list.
BA noted that Priester did not do well in the Arizona Fall League, and they didn’t speak highly of his fastball, which is likely why he didn’t make their top 100, after being on the list mid-season. They spoke highly of all three of his secondary pitches, saying “Priester is an above-average strike-thrower with a trio of average or better secondaries to mask the dead-zone shape on his fastball.”
Priester had a 3.29 ERA in 90.1 innings this past season, with a 1.21 WHIP and an 89:30 SO/BB ratio. He got a late start to the season due to an oblique injury. His AFL numbers show a 6.26 ERA and 22 strikeouts in 23 innings.
As for the Chandler article, they talk strictly about his pitching for his future. They say he has a chance for three plus pitches once he gets more mound experience. Right now everything is raw, and his control is spotty, but the potential is there. Here’s the key quote for his write-up:
“Despite doing a fine job repeating his delivery, Chandler’s control and command wander. The Pirates chalk this up to overall inexperience and expect it to improve as he moves up the ladder. If it does, he could tap into his sky-high potential and move into the game’s elite prospects.”
I agree with everything they said about Chandler, including leaving hitting out of the equation, though I wouldn’t keep him from continuing to hit for now. He has legit raw power. I’d add to their report by saying that he seems to let the game speed up on him, and I noticed a good catcher can pick that up as it starts to happen and slow him down.
