Pirates sign 1st-round pick Quinn Priester

Kevin Gorman
Monday, June 10, 2019 6:56 p.m. | Monday, June 10, 2019 6:56 p.m.

The Pirates selected pitcher Quinn Priester of Cary-Grove (Ill.) High School in the first round of the MLB Draft.

The Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday signed their first-round draft pick, high school pitcher Quinn Priester, keeping the right-hander from following his commitment to play at TCU.

Priester will start his career with the Gulf Coast League Pirates. Contract terms were not announced, but the slot value for the No. 18 pick is $3,481,300. Priester will be introduced at a news conference at 10 a.m. Tuesday at PNC Park.

OFFICIAL ✍️: We have signed our first round selection RHP Quinn Priester (@QuinnPriester), the 18th overall selection in the 2019 First-Year Player Draft.

Welcome to the Burgh, Quinn! pic.twitter.com/8rVCKCFeSL

— Pirates (@Pirates) June 10, 2019

The 6-foot-3, 195-pound Priester was a two-sport star at Cary-Grove High School in Cary, Ill., and was named the state’s Gatorade Player of the Year in baseball.

Priester also was a wide receiver/defensive back on Cary-Grove’s Class 6A state champions in football.

Priester throws a four-seam fastball that can touch 97 mph and a two-seam fastball with movement, as well as a curveball that is considered one of his best pitches. He had an 8-2 record with a 1.00 ERA and 91 strikeouts in 60¹⁄₃ innings this season.

MLBPipeline.com predicted Priester has the quickest chance to make it to the majors of any high school pitcher drafted.

Which 2019 draftees will be the quickest to make their #MLB debuts? @JonathanMayo broke down the candidates into four categories: https://t.co/3bB6TXeJzU pic.twitter.com/j7HDjzZRur

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) June 9, 2019

Upon drafting Priester, Pirates senior director of scouting Joe DelliCarri raved about the pitcher’s “aptitude, arm action, athleticism and delivery to add.”

“Today we share in Quinn’s great enthusiasm in bringing him into the Pirates organization,” DelliCarri said in a statement Monday.

“Quinn’s very high level of character, his competitive makeup and abilities should serve him very well for years to come. Our development staff is already very excited to share in Quinn’s journey in becoming the best person and player he can become.”

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Kevin Gorman is a TribLive reporter covering the Pirates. A Baldwin native and Penn State graduate, he joined the Trib in 1999 and has covered high school sports, Pitt football and basketball and was a sports columnist for 10 years. He can be reached at kgorman@triblive.com.