Red Sox Prospect Acquired At Trade Deadline Shines, Makes Case For Call-Up

Could this righty earn a promotion before season's end?

Sep 20, 2019; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; A detail view of Boston Red Sox hats and gloves at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-Imagn Images / Kim Klement-Imagn Images

Wednesday night was a brutal night for most in the Boston Red Sox organization, but thankfully, not for all.

At Citi Field, the Red Sox continued their losing ways, dropping their fifth game in a row to fall to .500 for the first time since mid-June. Not only are the playoffs out of the question at this point, but Boston is now within reach of a third straight 78-84 season and last-place finish.

Upstate in Rochester, however, the Triple-A prospect the Red Sox acquired at the trade deadline was mowing down the Triple-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. He pitched so well, in fact, that it could have been one of his last outings in the minor leagues.

23-year-old Quinn Priester, acquired on July 29 from the Pittsburgh Pirates for infielder/outfielder Nick Yorke, had his best outing to date in the Red Sox organization on Wednesday night. He pitched six shutout innings against the Rochester Red Wings, allowing four hits and striking out eight.

The most encouraging sign for Priester was an uptick in swings and misses. He generated 14 whiffs on Wednesday night, eight of which came on his slider. Priester had one of the lowest whiff rates in Major League Baseball during his brief call-ups with the Pirates, so this was a point of emphasis.

That slider has developed into a real plus pitch for Priester in his last few outings. According to user Red Sox Stats on X, Priester had at one point thrown 70 sliders in his last three starts, generating 25 whiffs on the 35 swings batters took at them.

The Red Sox have wanted to give Priester time to acclimate to his new surroundings while playing with a talented group of prospects in Worcester. But as the season winds down, and the Red Sox fall further out of contention, a call-up has to be on manager Alex Cora and the front office's minds.

At some point, the Red Sox have to figure out what they've got in Priester. If he can be a part of the 2025 starting rotation, that's great. If not, they cannot afford to sit on their hands for another offseason and allow their pitching depth to melt down after the All-Star break.

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