Fascinating Red Sox Pitcher Made Pivotal Gain Amid Roster Push

Tuesday was a big day for Red Sox pitcher Quinn Priester, and he largely met the moment.

Priester is in the mix to break camp as part of Boston’s starting rotation, especially with Brayan Bello’s status up in the air and Kutter Crawford’s lingering knee injury holding him back this spring. The battle for a rotation spot might come down to Priester and Richard Fitts with the former making a big impression against his former team, the Pittsburgh Pirates, on Tuesday in Bradenton, Fla.

Priester pitched 2 2/3 innings, allowing one run on four hits while striking out four and walking one. The right-hander acquired from the Pirates has now logged 6 2/3 innings this spring, allowing just two runs on eight hits while striking out eight.

Spring stats are largely inconsequential, especially for a pitcher like Priester who wants to induce ground balls and might not have a big-league defense behind him on the dirt. But there are also underlying numbers that point to offseason improvements, and one area in which Priester clearly has improved is velocity. Tuesday’s game against the Pirates featured MLB’s Statcast data. According to Baseball Savant, Priester threw 10 fastballs that hit 95 mph or higher on the radar gun, topping out at 97 (with a foot-and-a-half of vertical drop on that one).

The velocity is significant for Priester. Last year, splitting time with the Pirates and with one start in Boston, Priester averaged 93 mph on his fastball (or sinker). Adding velocity was a priority for Priester after the Red Sox acquired him in the trade for former top prospect Nick Yorke. Priester saw an uptick on the radar gun down the stretch with Worcester. He also added a cutter, a pitch he used nine times Tuesday, averaging 93 mph per offering.

Additionally, Priester generated seven swings and misses in his limited work.

Outings like Tuesday’s are a good reminder as to why Pittsburgh made Priester a first-round pick in 2019 and why he was a top-100 prospect earlier in his career. Ultimately, it never clicked with the Pirates, or they ran out of answers to unlock his potential.

The Red Sox, meanwhile, should be cautiously optimistic with what they’ve seen from him so far. If he can continue to get big league hitters out over the next few weeks, he could find himself making the trip to Texas with the big club to open the 2025 campaign.