Quinn Priester was sent down to the minors yesterday, after making six starts with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Priester had a 9.10 ERA in 28.2 innings of work.
Priester has one of the best curveballs in the system. That resulted in a .733 OPS and a 12.9% whiff rate in the big leagues. The downside to the pitch isn’t the actual pitch. It’s what Priester pairs with the curveball. His four-seam fastball has been crushed to the tune of a 1.397 OPS, with a 5.9% whiff rate. That pitch sets up the high/low split on the curve, and Priester is missing with the setup.
He’s added a cut slider, which has generated a 16.9% whiff rate, but a 1.190 OPS against. His sinker is the better fastball, but still had an .860 OPS. He also struggles with control with this pitch. The sinker/slider combo led to a lot of his control issues in the big leagues, leading to a 12.9% walk rate.
On the bright side, his changeup led to a .538 OPS against.
It’s not great to see a former first round pick arrive and struggle in the majors. The answer for Priester is to make his four-seam fastball more difficult to hit, which has been a challenge his entire career. An alternate approach would be finding control with the sinker/slider mix, which really reduces the impact of his elite curveball. He could also look for a replacement pitch for the four-seam to incorporate that curveball more effectively.
Baseball development isn’t linear. Everyone wants to see a player arrive in the majors and easily adjust with performance that can be counted on for years. The reality is that most players struggle when they first arrive, and not all of them adjust. Priester is only 22-years-old. There’s no guarantee that he will improve on his stuff, but he’s got the type of work ethic that you’d bet on.
The alarming thing here is that Priester reached the big leagues without a pitch mix that could get outs. He’s still mostly relying on tools, with questions of how those tools will play in the majors. This is shown with the curveball — his best pitch, of which he lacks a setup offering.
The Pirates saw something similar with Mitch Keller. It took him a few years to adjust, though Keller has struggled as well. He’s got a 4.27 ERA in 149.2 innings this year, which is an improvement over his 7.13 ERA in his debut in 2019. Hopefully it won’t take until 2025-26 for Priester to improve his game enough to be a consistent MLB starter.
QUICK PIRATES RECAP
PIRATES (54-66) AT Mets
Score: Pirates 7, Mets 4
Pittsburgh Starter: Bailey Falter, LHP (4.86)
–Line: 5.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 1 HR
Player of the Game: Liover Peguero, SS (2-for-4, HR [5], BB, RBI)
Attendance: 35,439
Notable Performers
- Connor Joe, 1B (2-for-3, 2B, 2 BB)
- Jason Delay, C (1-for-4, BB, 2B, 2 RBI)
- Colin Holderman, RHP (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K)
- David Bednar, RHP (1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K)
One Sentence Recap: The Pirates exploded for a six run top of the seventh inning, after Bailey Falter — acquired for Rodolfo Castro at the trade deadline — worked for 5.1 innings to keep the Mets off the board.
DAILY VIDEO RUNDOWN
Greensboro showed off some power last night. The first home run came from Josiah Sightler in the first inning, his fifth of the year.
We're sorry about Josiah Sightler almost hitting your car but not sorry about the HOMER!
Hoppers: 1 | Hot Rods: 0 https://t.co/vu0Mkhd5Ln pic.twitter.com/MLGgnIoBc9
— Greensboro Grasshoppers (@GSOHoppers) August 15, 2023
The next one added insurance in the top of the eighth, although there was a question of whether the ball stayed fair. It was ruled fair, though.
Jack Brannigan HOMER!!
Hoppers: 4 | Hot Rods: 0 pic.twitter.com/XmADkhnFac
— Greensboro Grasshoppers (@GSOHoppers) August 16, 2023
There was absolutely no doubt about this next one, with Termarr Johnson crushing a pitch for his third homer in three games.
BACK TO BACK
AROUND THE SYSTEM
I’m in Greensboro this week, and the daily Prospect Watch will have updates on all of the action.
Pirates Prospect Watch: Po-Yu Chen and The Greensboro Power Bats
INDIANAPOLIS
Roansy Contreras made his latest start last night, throwing four innings of one run ball. Contreras has allowed just one run in seven innings across two starts in Triple-A.
ALTOONA
Sean Sullivan threw 5.1 innings for Altoona, allowing two runs on four hits, walking two and striking out five. He’s got a 2.08 ERA in 17.1 innings this month across three starts.
GREENSBORO
Po-Yu Chen was on the mound last night, and I led off the Prospect Watch with a report on his start.
BRADENTON
Paul Skenes was on the mound for Bradenton, pitching one scoreless inning in a 14-13 victory.
ROOKIE LEVELS
Michael Kennedy threw 4.2 innings of one-run ball in the FCL. For all of the action, check out the Prospect Watch.
SONG OF THE DAY
For any of you Magic the Gathering fans (I can’t dedicate my database brain to that complex system), someone recently pulled a 1-of-1 card with Tolkien’s One Ring. Post Malone, a huge fan of the game, bought the card for $2 million. I think that makes him the ruler of all Magic the Gathering players.
This version of Sunflower to lead off the Tiny Desk Concert is incredible.
