Pirates select high school pitcher in first round of MLB Draft
The Pirates went with a high school pitcher in the first round of the MLB Draft on Monday night in Secaucus, New Jersey.
Pittsburgh selected Quinn Priester, an 18-year-old right-hander from Cary-Grove (Ill.) High School with the 18th overall pick. He has a big fastball and a multi-sport background.
“Last night, I could barely sleep,” said Priester during a conference call with reporters that was published on the team’s website. “Once I finally got the call and heard my name, it was pure job and pure excitement. Pure happiness. I’m so fortunate to be in this situation with such a great organization.”
The Pirates have a bonus pool of $9,944,000, the 11th-highest total in this year’s draft. Their first-round pick comes with an assigned slot value of $3,481,300.
Pittsburgh took center fielder Sammy Siani from William Penn Charter School with the 37th pick. The Pirates added another outfielder in the second round with the selection of Indiana University center fielder Matt Gorski with the 57th pick. The Bucs wrapped up Day 1 by choosing University of Houston third baseman Jared Triolo 72nd overall.
Priester, who is listed at 6-foot-3 and 198 pounds, was a star wide receiver and defensive back for Cary Grove High’s state championship football team. He was also named Gatorade’s 2019 Illinois high school baseball player of the year.
Former Pirates and Pine-Richland graduate Neil Walker, who was selected as a catcher in the first round of the MLB Draft in 2004 as a catcher, starred for the Rams as a wide receiver in football. Walker led a resurgence in Pittsburgh that saw the team qualify for the postseason three straight years from 2013-15. Pittsburgh fans hope that Priester can be a part of another run to the playoffs, but it will take some time before Priester is pitching at PNC Park.
“I think being a multiple-sport athlete has helped me become much more dynamic on the mound,” Priester said. “There are so many benefits of playing multiple sports. I wish more guys did it.”
The Pirates have a history of drafting tall, projectable right-handed pitchers — think Jameson Taillon, Nick Kingham, Clay Holmes and Tyler Glasnow — and general manager Neal Huntington has often espoused the virtue of playing different sports even in this era of specialization.
“It factored from the standpoint of he had body movements, baseball athleticism that translated with his pure athleticism. You could see that watching him pitch,” senior director of amateur scouting Joe DelliCarri said. “There’s athleticism in how he does things on the mound.”
Priester throws a four-seam fastball that can touch 97 mph, a heavy two-seamer in the low 90s, a tight curveball around 80 mph and a changeup. He called the curveball his best pitch and noted that his changeup is a work in progress, though he’s grown more comfortable with it.
Priester said he has never had a pitching coach, so he is essentially self-taught. He watches YouTube clips of pitchers like Kyle Hendricks, Jake Arrieta and Noah Syndergaard to learn from them. He follows the @PitchingNinja on Twitter and breaks down slow-motion video of other pitchers.
“If I could pick up one little thing to get me better, then it was absolutely worth it,” Priester said. “I’m just really excited to get more formal pitching coaching in such a fantastic organization that develops pitchers extremely well.”
Yes, Priester grew up in Cubs territory. But Pittsburgh shouldn’t worry about where his loyalties lie.
“I’m a Pirates fan now,” he said.
In Day 2, the Pirates selected Arizona centerfielder Matt Fraizer with the 95th pick in the third round. They added J.C. Flowers in the fourth round with the 124th pick. Flowers is a right-handed pitcher from Florida State. Grant Ford, a righty from Nevada, was taken 154th in the fifth round.
Pittsburgh selected its third straight pitcher in Will Matthiesen with the 184th pick during the sixth round. Matthiesen is a right-handed pitcher from Stanford in California.
The Pirates went with an outfield in the seventh round, as they chose USC’s Blake Sabol, a right field with the 214th selection.
Pittsburgh’s success is built on pitching, and it went back to the hurlers in the eighth round by selecting Austin Roberts, a right-hander from Sacramento State, with the 244th pick.
The Pirates selected Vanderbilt shortstop Ethan Paul in the ninth round with the 274th selection.
Pittsburgh closed Day 2 of the draft by picking Notre Dame’s Cameron Junker, a right-handed pitcher, in the 10th round. Junker was 304th selection overall.