On the eve of the Pittsburgh Pirates reporting to PNC Park for Summer Camp to train for the 2020 season, Quinn Priester was driving to Wisconsin for a Fourth of July weekend getaway.

When the Pirates didn’t include their 2019 first-round pick and top-five prospect on the 60-man roster Sunday and the minor league season was canceled Tuesday, it left Priester in limbo this summer.

Pirates general manager Ben Cherington counted Priester as one of “a number of younger pitchers who haven’t yet been at the full-season level (that) we just felt like this wasn’t quite the time to include them in this group.” A 6-foot-3, 210-pound right-hander from Glendale Heights, Ill., Priester was disappointed by his omission but didn’t second-guess the decision.

“I understand it,” Priester, 19, said. “I completely get it but, obviously, I was wanting to go back and wanting to be able to compete against the best guys in the organization and being able to learn from the people in the organization.

“As of now, yeah, I wish I was part of that squad. But I totally understand that all those guys are further along than I am at this current time and I totally respect that. I’m still doing everything I can to continue my development and get better and come back better than I was before. I want to come back and impress the guys that I need to.”

Priester is poised to prove he can overcome another setback after a spring filled with disappointment and a devastating loss.

Christopher Horner | Tribune-Review Pirates pitcher Quinn Priester throws in the bullpen at Pirate City in Bradenton.  

‘A positive influence’

The No. 18 overall pick in the 2019 MLB Draft, he went 1-1 with a 3.19 ERA, 41 strikeouts and 14 walks in 36 2/3 innings over eight starts split between the Pirates’ rookie and short-season teams last summer.

Preparing to pitch for his first full season in Class A with the Greensboro (N.C.) Grasshoppers, Priester returned to Chicago when MLB closed training camps March 12 because of the coronavirus pandemic. Two weeks later, his maternal grandfather, Paul Foley, was diagnosed with covid-19. When Foley died April 17 at age 77, Priester lost his biggest fan and inspiration.

“That part has definitely been hard, not only on myself but my mom (Chris) and my entire family trying to get through that,” Priester said. “My grandpa was a huge baseball fanatic. I know that he would want me to be working as hard as I can to achieve my dream of playing in the big leagues. It definitely does provide more motivation to do it for him.

“I keep that in the back of my mind. It puts everything into perspective, as well, with all of this stuff going on, to be able to reflect on it and learn from it. He was such a positive influence on me and my career. It’s awful. It really stinks but it definitely is providing me with more motivation to keep going and keep pushing.”

Christopher Horner | Tribune-Review Pirates pitchers Quinn Priester (right) and Aaron Shortridge walk to the clubhouse after a workout at Pirate City in Bradenton.  

‘It gets competitive’

Being trapped in a cold-weather city during the quarantine didn’t help Priester’s training but he improvised with creative solutions. He pitched into a net. He found dumbbells and set up a makeshift weight room in his mother’s basement. He stuffed weights into a backpack to do squats.

“It was fun, to be honest with you,” Priester said. “It definitely did get old and I wanted to get back to a normal gym but it was definitely fun to find different ways to test your muscles.”

Testing his arm was another story. When the weather warmed, Priester found a group of 20-somethings to practice with in outfielder Alek Thomas, a 2019 second-round pick of Arizona; Donovan Williams, an infielder with the Cardinals; and a pair of Brewers prospects in left-handed pitcher Antoine Kelly and catcher Wyatt Mascarella.

“Being able to get in front of live hitters from Chicago area has been huge for me,” Priester said. “It gets competitive. It’s fun. It kind of brings us back to when we were able to play games. We keep it small so the social distancing stays safe during the pandemic, but we get our work in and everybody gets better because of it.

“It definitely gets me fired up to go back at one point. I hope that will happen. That gets me excited, to see how my stuff is playing against guys who are at the same level or higher than I am right now.”

Christopher Horner | Tribune-Review Pirates first round draft pick Quinn Priester puts on his new Pirates cap during a press conference Tuesday, June 11, 2019, at PNC Park.  

‘The goal hasn’t changed at all’

The Pirates gave Priester a throwing program, and he has collaborated with West Virginia Black Bears pitching coach Bryan Hickerson. The focus has been on adding a changeup to Priester’s pitch repertoire, which relies mostly on his fastball and curveball.

Priester is starting to throw it with more confidence and consistency, though he admits that its development still has a long way to go.

“I’ve been really, really focused on trying get to where it’s more consistent and I can throw it for strikes to righties or lefties in any count,” Priester said. “I feel comfortable doing that. I feel it’s taken a huge jump so when I go back it’s going to be a much better pitch than it was in spring training.”

Cherington has hinted that he hopes MLB will come up with a developmental league for top prospects, akin to the Arizona Fall League, but Priester has heard only rumors so far. His plan is to be proactive and productive amid the pandemic, even though he calls this lost season “a punch in the gut.”

“Yes, I understand the seriousness and magnitude of covid, and I realize that this is more important than anything, that everybody’s safety is more important than baseball to be perfectly honest,” Priester said. “With that being said, I was really, really looking forward to playing my first full season of pro ball, being able to travel around and face better competition than I’ve ever faced.”

Whether it’s living up to his first-round billing or living out his dream in honor of his grandfather, Priester promises to push himself — even if he isn’t playing games for the Pirates this summer.

“The goal hasn’t changed at all,” Priester said. “There’s no taking the foot off the gas, in my eyes. This is a time when we’re going to see a separation of who really wants it and is going to stay focused during this time and who isn’t. You’re on your own. You have to hold yourself completely accountable. If you’re not going to workouts, no one is there to tell you, ‘Hey, you’re missing workouts.’ It’s completely on you.

“Coming back from this, guys who are working harder and keeping the foot on the gas, you’re going to see them take big jumps ahead of guys who maybe aren’t. I’m going to take advantage of this time … to work harder and maybe be in front of the pack once we get back.”

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