Quinn Priester on his transition to the Red Sox: 'Being in the starting rotation is a place where I feel I belong'
Quinn Priester knows the best way he can help the Red Sox in the future is as a starter. The right-hander has made two starts for the WooSox; his first one was a clunker, while his second was much better. He will take the mound and make his third appearance on Friday night at Polar Park.
Priester was tagged for eight runs off six hits over 2 1/3 innings in his organization debut against the Buffalo Bisons. Throughout the outing, Priester struggled with his command, particularly throwing strikes, which is something he has not had an issue with in the past.
“First start in a Red Sox uniform, he doesn’t know that many people here and wanting to make a good first impression here, I kind of washed the start away,” said WooSox skipper Chad Tracy on Thursday afternoon.
“He didn't throw many strikes, he was around the zone. But we know the history, that’s not an issue, he’s a strike thrower,” added Tracy.
His start against the Syracuse Mets on the road offered more promise, as the righty looked more comfortable on the mound and showed better command with his pitches.
“He went in Syracuse and looked like Quinn Priester,” Tracy continued. “He made one bad pitch and that was to Brett Baty.”
Over the last couple of weeks, Priester has been working on adding velocity to his pitches and reeling in his command as he navigates through the remainder of the season.
“They gave me that first start there, not really the way I wanted it to go,” said Priester to Beyond the Monster on Thursday. “It was good to kind of get the rust off, get back into the starting rotation, and then I had a much better game against the Mets in Syracuse and, just feel better about the command, and now, continue to add that velocity.”
WooSox pitching coach Dan DeLucia talked about Priester working on some bio-mechanical 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.
“It was slightly up in that Mets game, and after this, we're going to get it slightly up tomorrow and then keep trending that upwards towards the end of the season,” added Priester. “Keep gaining weight and doing those things away from the field; the mechanics are going to help.”
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 only thing that we've really identified at this moment as a goal is bringing the slider vertical break down,” said Priester. “So with the Pirates, they wanted that pitch to carry some vertical break to play a little bit more like a cutter. And over here, even with the swings that I've been seeing recently on the good ones that I throw, you know when I have no break.”
As Priester makes the necessary adjustments, he said that he wants to see hitters swing over the top of his slider. The club would like to see more separation from his slider and fastball, to not have them blend together moving forward.
“The hitters are telling me that this is a good adjustment, and we're just going to keep inching that down because that's something that we had gone the other way with all season, so now being able to just inch it back down start by start is the goal. And again, we're slowly but surely achieving those.”
Priester is no longer eligible to be considered a ranked prospect amongst publications like SoxProspects or Baseball America. He is the only young arm in the system that Boston could call up that could potentially slot in their rotation now.
Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow loves the potential that Priester carries and is excited to have him within the organization.
“I think he’s still young and projectable,” said Breslow to reporters. “When you put his age relative to what the rest of our young major league team looks like, he’s still younger by oftentimes multiple years. If you threw him into our Triple A rotation, I think he’d be among the youngest, if not the youngest pitcher there.
“We firmly believe that if we get him in our infrastructure, his best years are ahead of him,” Breslow said. “And there’s a lot of potential to work with.”
Priester knows what the Red Sox gave up to acquire him from the Pirates and is thankful Breslow has confidence in him. He looks forward to showing everyone they were right in their assessment of the righty.
Sea Dogs starter Hunter Dobbins impresses while waiting for his opportunity to pitch for the WooSox
“It's exciting, you know, to be able to, you know, have his support and buy in from the organization,” said Priester. “Going out and getting me because, I know, (Nick) Yorke's an amazing player too. So for them to be willing to give up a piece like that, shows me what they think of me.
“And also it resonates with the way I think of myself. I think being in the starting rotation is a place where I feel I belong, and I'm going to be able to help us win the most games in that role. For them to have the confidence and for Craig to have the confidence to give me that opportunity, it's on me to go and capitalize, really show everybody why he's right, and be able to win games, not only for the team but for the fans in Boston.
“With it being such a worldwide brand of baseball, it's really cool.”
