Quinn Priester has caught manager Alex Cora's eye; righty 'looks really good'

Image courtesy of Getty Images

Red Sox pitcher Quinn Priester made his only start with the club during the final game of last season, pitching at home against the Rays. He looked good, tossing five innings and allowing just one run, four hits, and one walk while striking out two.

Boston acquired Priester before the trade deadline in July from the Pirates for infield/outfield prospect Nick Yorke.

With camp underway down in Fort Myers, Priester is already making an impression on skipper Alex Cora.

NL West team signs Red Sox free agent pitcher Nick Pivetta; Boston will receive a compensatory pick

“Priester is another guy that caught my eye. Kind of like impressive,” Cora said Friday at JetBlue Park. “He put in work in the offseason. He’s a lot stronger. We saw what he did the last day. He’s got good stuff. He looks really good.”

While with the WooSox last summer, the righty focused on increasing his velocity and putting on more size. WooSox pitching coach Dan DeLucia talked about Priester working on some biomechanical stuff between starts in the hopes of getting more uptick on his fastball, and he will throw his changeup more to mix it in with his other weapons.

Jarren Duran felt process to land on 2025 salary was 'all good' and 'really smooth'

DeLucia emphasized that he wanted to see Priester change some of the grips he has on his pitches while also working to shape his key pitches within his arsenal, including his slider. The 24-year-old has 21 career MLB appearances and 15 starts.

Priester will be one of many pitchers available to the Red Sox at the Triple-A level this season. He should pitch in the WooSox rotation along with Cooper Criswell, Richard Fitts, Hunter Dobbins, and Michael Fulmer. Left-handed pitcher Shane Drohan is expected to compete for a spot in the WooSox rotation after being returned from the White Sox last summer.

The improved pitching depth for the Red Sox will benefit the big league club if any of the starters go down for any period of time. Boston hasn’t had the depth from a pitching perspective at the Triple-A and big league level like this in a long time.

Former Red Sox second baseman finds new home with NL East club

“It’s huge,” Cora said about the depth. “We talk about that weekend last year when Nick (Pivetta) was a little bit banged up coming out of the Texas one. We had to skip him, and it was a bullpen day, and it didn’t work. The next day—that’s just our luck — Pax (James Paxton) gets hurt (early in his start)... and for a week we’re playing catch-up. We didn’t have the talent to actually solve that problem at that moment. So this year, I think we’re going to be in a good spot."

Red Sox starter sidelined dealing with patellar tendon soreness

Cora already is expressing his excitement over Priester; he is equally impressed with Fitts, who made four starts for the Red Sox last season. He allowed just four runs while posting a 1.74 ERA over 20 1/3 frames.

“You saw them last year when they came up. Fitts was great. He threw a lot of strikes. Still trying to maintain the velocity. I think it’s very important for him,” Cora said.