In the System: Priester's May surge comes as he learns his stuff

INDIANAPOLIS -- It's a matter of "when," not "if" Quinn Priester is going to reach the majors. And as the calendar nears June and with the Pirates' rotation depth taking a couple hits already this season, it would appear Priester isn't terribly far away from getting a call to Pittsburgh, even if there is no timetable for it now.

But this isn't news for the Pirates' No. 2 pitching prospect.

"I've felt that way all year," Priester told me last week at Victory Field. "Obviously, it's just competing, and I feel like I do that really well. Regardless of what level, I feel like I can adjust to the competition level. I'm definitely having a lot of fun, but there are a lot of things I have to keep getting better at."

Looking at the results, it would appear that Priester is getting better. He's certainly at least righted the ship. After a shaky month of April where he went 1-3 with a 7.78 ERA over five starts, he has done a 180 in May. Priester is 4-0 with a 1.13 ERA (24 IP, 3 ER), 19 strikeouts, 0.96 WHIP and .214 batting average against in four starts this month. That May ERA is the second-lowest among all of minor-league baseball among pitchers with at least 21 innings pitched.

He hasn't done much differently this month, though. Sometimes the difference between a good start and a bad one is if that hard-hit ground ball is double play or a bases-clearing double. But for someone who has found success throughout most of his minor-league journey, that April was a bump in the road, even if he knew he was going to get through it.

"It may feel like that because the stats were what they were," Priester said. "I knew we were just one play away. I was pitching fine. It was just the pitch that needed to be made wasn't being made. It's not like we were that far off, but that's just how quick these games can get away from you."

But when things are clicking, he has looked dominant. Priester has five pitches at his disposal -- four-seam, two-seam, changeup, curveball, slider -- and as he showed in his seven inning gem on May 16, he can use them all effectively:

That's the biggest difference for Priester this year in the minors. He's learning how to use his stuff more effectively, when to lean on certain pitches and sequence them. He thinks most of his pitches are performing about the same as they did at the start of the year, he's just using them more effectively.

"It's more so me changing as the game tells me to," Priester said. "There's been some games where I'm throwing 40 sinkers and it's juts working. I'm locating that pitch well, I've got good command. We're getting ground outs. Then there are days where I had really good feel for the curveball and slider and we're going with it. Not changing until the hitters told us we need to."

If there is one pitch that has taken a big step forward this year, though, it is the slider. The newest of his five pitches, the pitch wasn't getting the results he wanted early on in the year. He would occasionally get the big whiff and make a hitter look foolish, but too often the batter just took it for a ball or was able to rip it.

"It's a pitch I want to throw. It's a pitch I know I need to throw," Priester said. "The hitting has forced that pitch to be better, because I can't get away with crappy ones."

The Pirates have certainly leaned into the slider at the major-league level, throwing it 30.2% of the time as a staff, the second-most in baseball. There have been plenty of times where pitchers like Vince Velasquez and Roansy Contreras threw more sliders in a start than their fastball.

Priester has reached out to those MLB pitchers to pick their brains about how to lean on the breaking stuff more, something that could potentially benefit him in the majors since it's generally graded higher than his fastballs.

"It has forced me to be better, because if I'm not, I'm going to be embarrassed," Priester said.

It's hard to see Priester getting embarrassed in the majors whenever he gets his call. He's been keeping tabs on the major-league team, but his focus is on what is happening in Indianapolis first. He isn't banging the table for that to happen quite yet. Not until he checks a few more boxes.

"I feel like I've still got more in me to pitch better," Priester said. "I'm excited when that opportunity comes, but right now, I've still got to keep getting better."

WHO IS HOT?

AAA Indianapolis: It's telling the Pirates opted to select Josh Palacios' contract rather than recall Cal Mitchell recently, but don't close the book on Mitchell yet. He is hitting .356 with three doubles, two home runs, 10 RBIs and a 1.011 OPS over his last 14 games.

AA Altoona: Liover Peguero is tied for fourth in extra-base hits (12) and hits (23) in the Eastern League this month. He has safely in nine of his last 10 games and has a 1.176 OPS in that stretch, which was boosted by a multi-homer game on Saturday.

A+ Greensboro: Lefty Anthony Solometo pitched a career-high seven innings in his last start on May 18. The Pirates' No. 6 pitching prospect, according to Baseball America, has recorded a 2.92 ERA with 30 strikeouts, no home runs allowed and a .179 batting average against over his last five outings, totaling 24 2/3 innings.

A- Bradenton: J.P. Massey was named the Florida State League's Pitcher of the Week for this past week after he allowed one hit with five strikeouts over six scoreless innings in his only start of the week. The 23-year-old right-hander was taken in the seventh round of last year's draft and has recorded a 2.76 ERA with 40 strikeouts and 14 walks over 29 1/3 innings. His curveball has been his best pitch, getting a ridiculous 70% whiff rate thus far.

SOMETHING TO WATCH

There aren't many top 30 prospects on Altoona's pitching staff, but they are getting some quality innings out of a lot of guys. Sean Sullivan has a 2.28 ERA through his first six starts. Oliver Garcia has a a dozen strikeouts with just two runs allowed over his last eight outing, totaling nine innings. Cameron Junker (who is flashing improved offspeed stuff this year, I'm told), has not been scored upon in his seven outings in May. Travis MacGregor, who appears to be fully back after his Tommy John surgery, has struck out 25 and has a 0.87 ERA (20 2/3 innings, two runs) over his last 10 appearances.

The Pirates have been trying to build their pitching depth for years, and it appears to be starting to show in the upper levels in the system.

INJURY NEWS

There are no remnants of the viral illness that has sidelined Travis Swaggerty since mid-April. He is participating in all baseball activities and is on pace to return to games later this month. Right-handed pitchers Colin Selby and Will Kobos were both placed on the seven-day injured list this week.

CLIP OF THE WEEK

Malcom Nuñez got off to a slow start this season, and his .244/.309/.363 slash line through his first 149 plate appearances is still well below the league average, but he has started to heat up of late. He's on a seven-game hitting streak, and launched a 95 mph fastball for a no-doubter Sunday:

TOP 5 HITTERS, BASEBALL AMERICA

C Endy Rodriguez (AAA): 129 PA, .239/341/.413, 4 HR, 13 RBI

INF Termarr Johnson (A-): 80 PA, .250/.400/.344, 1 HR, 9 RBI

C Henry Davis (AA): 141 PA, .297/.447/.631, 10 HR, 22 RBI

INF Liover Peguero (AA): 155 PA, .273/.348/.446, 4 HR, 19 RBI

INF Nick Gonzales (AAA): 142 PA, .268/.352/.447, 3 HR, 8 RBI

TOP 5 PITCHERS, BASEBALL AMERICA

RHP Luis Ortiz (AAA): 2-1, 2.23 ERA, 29 K, 32 1/3 IP in minors (currently with MLB team)

RHP Quinn Priester (AAA): 5-3, 4.12 ERA, 44 K, 43 2/3 IP

RHP Bubba Chandler (A+): 2-1, 7.36 ERA, 32 K, 29 1/3 IP

RHP Thomas Harrington (A-): 4-1, 3.27 ERA, 37 K, 33 IP

LHP Anthony Solometo (A+): 0-3, 3.68 ERA, 46 K, 36 2/3 IP