After turning Quinn Priester into an ex-Cubs fan, all the Pirates have to do now is sign him

Although he was a two-sport standout in high school, Quinn Priester said his childhood dream always was to play baseball. His home in Cary, Ill., is about an hour’s drive from Wrigley Field, and Priester grew up rooting for the Cubs.

“I’m a Pirates fan now,” Priester said late Monday night — a change of allegiances that came when the Pirates drafted him with the 18th overall pick.

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Priester, a tall, athletic right-hander with a 93 mph fastball and a power curveball, is committed to Texas Christian University. Will a $3.4 million signing bonus be enough to lure him away from college ball?

“It’s gonna be a good situation, in terms of what’s going to end up happening once the contracts are set in place,” Priester said. “We’re really optimistic right now, but, you know, nothing is set in stone.”

MLB’s assigned slot value for the No. 18 pick is $3,481,300. Last year, the Pirates used a Competitive Balance Round pick (36th overall) on Gunnar Hoglund, a high school right-hander from Tampa, Fla.. Hoglund turned down a bonus of nearly $2 million and instead went to Ole Miss.

The Pirates have gotten mixed results when taking a high school pitcher in the first round. They’ve gone that route in each of the past three years, but none of those picks is currently with the organization:

After Priester, the Pirates took a pair of outfielders. They got Sammy Siani (William Penn Charter School) in Competitive Balance Round A and Matt Gorski (Indiana University) in the second round. The slot value for Siani’s spot (37th overall) is $2 million. Gorski, the 57th overall pick, was ranked 112th on MLB Pipeline’s prospects list and 150th by Baseball America. The Pirates might be able to sign him for a bit less than the $1.24 million slot value.

With their final pick on the first day of the draft, the Pirates took shortstop Jared Triolo (University of Houston) with the 72nd overall pick in Competitive Balance Round B. The slot value there is $870,700.

The Pirates’ total bonus pool is $9,944,000.

Picking outside of the top 15, the Pirates mapped out several scenarios for their first pick. Over the past several weeks, they began to zero in on Priester. Their evaluators fanned out around Cary, putting together a makeup report by querying Priester’s friends, family and coaches.

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“I was excited, I was nervous, I was happy. So many different (emotions),” Priester said. “My family and I kind of had an idea in the back of our minds. We were hoping Pittsburgh would be the place where I landed.”

There were no big surprises as names came off the board. “We stayed true to our board and true to our core values,” scouting director Joe DelliCarri said. “Quinn definitely fit that when it came time to make the selection.”

What’s up Pittsburgh!! #LetsGoBucs https://t.co/ew0FQVInr9

— Quinn Priester (@QuinnPriester) June 4, 2019

Priester waited until after football season — he played wideout and defensive back on a team that went 14-0 and last year won the Illinois Class 6A state title — to begin talking to baseball scouts. During the regular season, he went 6-2 with a 1.20 ERA and amassed 73 strikeouts in 46 2/3 innings pitched. DelliCarri and general manager Neal Huntington always have tended to look favorably upon two-sport athletes.

“He had body movements, baseball athleticism that translated with his pure athleticism,” DelliCarri said. “You could see that, watching him pitch. I think it does play out. Matt Gorski played a lot of soccer, and you see that in his movements on the grass. Not taking anything away from Sammy and Jared, but maybe Matt and Quinn (were helped) by playing soccer and football. It factors (into the decision).”

Priester’s fastball sits in at 92-93 mph and has touched 95 mph. He gets weak contact by running his two-seamer in to right-handers and away to lefties. Priester’s best pitch is a 12-to-6 curveball. “I can throw it in any count for a strike,” he said. He’s got the makings of a changeup, although that pitch needs a lot of polish.

“I never had a pitching coach,” he said. “It’s not because my family couldn’t (afford) that. It’s more, I just like to play. I love watching baseball. I love watching Kyle Hendricks, Jake Arrieta, Noah Syndergaard, Walker Buehler and those guys. I look up to those guys. I’d go on YouTube and said, ‘Oh, you do this. That’s similar to what I do. Maybe I can try that pitch.’ It was more about learning visually from people who are the best in the game.”

(Photo: Mike Janes / Associated Press)

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