Pirates to start Quinn Priester in Sunday's rubber match vs. Toronto
After absorbing another blow to their starting rotation, with Martin Perez placed on the 15-day injured list because of a left groin muscle strain May 28, the Pittsburgh Pirates will turn to 23-year-old Quinn Priester to fill the void.
At least for the immediate future.
Priester was added to the MLB taxi squad from Triple-A Indianapolis on Saturday ahead of the Pirates’ eventual 8-1 win over the Toronto Blue Jays.
Manager Derek Shelton revealed postgame in Toronto that Priester would start Sunday with the Pirates (27-31) looking to win the three-game series.
Priester joins the Pirates for the second time this season.
Initially recalled from Triple-A in mid-April, he made five starts with the Pirates from April 19 to May 14, going 0-4 with a 4.33 ERA.
While Priester wasn’t exactly lights-out, his win-loss record is deceiving as the Pirates averaged only 0.8 runs over his five starts and were shut out three times.
And to his credit, he produced two quality starts before being sent back down to Triple-A.
Priester looked as if he made some strides as compared to last year, when he went 3-3 with a 7.74 ERA through 10 games (eight starts) in his first taste of the MLB.
That said, Priester surrendered seven homers and 31 hits in 27 innings of work, with a 1.52 WHIP and .274 opponent batting average against.
Still, even if things weren’t going ideally, Priester felt as if he was benefiting from being in the big leagues.
“I think it’s a lot of experience, a lot of knowing what to expect and just trusting that I’m playing good enough to be here,” Priester said in early May. “It’s just a matter of putting consistency together.”
The 6-foot-3 righty was the Pirates’ first-round (No. 18 overall) draft pick in 2019.
During Priester’s initial stint with the Pirates, manager Derek Shelton challenged him to execute more consistently.
With the Indians, Priester has done just that, sporting a 2-1 record and 3.38 ERA over five starts.
Now Priester will look to translate that level of success to the Pirates.
Justin Guerriero is a TribLive reporter covering the Penguins, Pirates and college sports. A Pittsburgh native, he is a Central Catholic and University of Colorado graduate. He joined the Trib in 2022 after covering the Colorado Buffaloes for Rivals and freelancing for the Denver Post. He can be reached at jguerriero@triblive.com.
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