By now, Milwaukee Brewers fans are well acquainted with Quinn Priester’s excellence. So are opposing lineups. An early season trade pickup from Boston, Priester has not only sustained the staff, he’s been one of the leaders. Ask anyone to pick who the No. 2 workhorse would be in the Brewers rotation behind ace Freddy Peralta and Quinn Priester would appear on exactly zero ballots. But, by the numbers, that is what he has been.
Quinn Priester just what Milwaukee Brewers needed in strange year of injuries and minor league carousel
Down at Triple-A, the Brewers have two pitchers, Chad Patrick and Tobias Myers, who began the year in the starting five. Logan Henderson just got the re-call to replace the injured Jacob Misiorowski. To say nothing of all the injuries, it’s been an up-and-down merry-go-round for the staff and its young pitchers.
Who knew Priester would be such a stabilizer? In two seasons with the Red Sox and Pirates, he entered 2025 with a career 6.23 ERA. His turnaround in Milwaukee has been Andrew-Vaughn like – or is that backwards? In any case, to anyone expecting a collapse, that other shoe probably isn’t dropping.
To be clear, Priester hasn’t earned the label of second-best Brewers starter this season. That title goes to Brandon Woodruff, who has started five games since returning from a two-year absence and allowed just a 2.22 ERA. After that, the amazing Miz.
24-year-old righty has been the staff’s, well, right-hand man
By cumulative value and consistency, however, Priester has been that guy. A quick scan says as much: behind Peralta, the Red Sox cast-out has the most innings pitched (114.1), the most quality starts (7), the most wins (11), and the highest WAR, at 2.3 (Baseball Reference). With his seven-inning gem on Monday, Priester tied a franchise record for most wins, 10, in consecutive decisions.
In fact, his 3.15 ERA and 1.19 WHIP are only a few decimal points higher than Peralta’s marks. Not bad for a pitcher the Brewers added out of pure desperation when early injuries decimated their rotation.
He hasn’t just pitched well; he’s helped drive the ox cart. Who leads Milwaukee in seven-inning starts? Yep, Priester, who has issued three such gems in 16 starts. (Peralta has one, an eight-inning masterpiece in early April, in 23.)
He’s has had a couple of clunkers mixed in: he gave up seven earned runs to the Cubs, five to St. Louis, four to the Marlins. Only the Miami start has come within the last three months. Other than that, it’s been three runs or less every time. If nothing else, he’s consistent.
Frankly, calling him just “consistent” is an undersell. Since June, Priester has posted a 2.40 ERA in 63.2 innings. He’s out-pitched Peralta by a fair margin.
Magic is in the method
True, Priester has not been dominant, per se, although he certainly looked that way on the mound against the Braves, who reached base a total of four times yesterday. He just limits the damage in all categories: hits, walks, longballs. Opposing lineups are hitting .228/.294/.382 against him – not lights out, just really, really solid. In this day and age, his 7.3 K/9 is subpar, if anything. He gets outs. Underlying that success is a 5th-ranked 57.8% groundball percentage. For comparison, Peralta, a flyball pitcher, is down at 37.6%.
Priester’s story fits within the larger one of Milwaukee’s remarkable starting pitcher resilience. Guys like Misiorowski, Henderson, and Woodruff may have flashier stuff and statlines. What they don’t have, whether due to injuries and rookie time in the minors, is the same claim to being old reliable.
A strong finish to his season- should fans expect anything else? – will make the Brewers look like even bigger wizards for pilfering him at basically no cost. In that respect, he is one of the roster’s many of bargain bin steals on the roster: Vaughn, Caleb Durbin, etc., etc.,
Priester is next slated to take the bump in a marquee clash against the Mets this weekend. Should be good.
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