‘On to the next one’: Priester still working on consistency
PITTSBURGH — If there has been one consistent element of Quinn Priester’s brief Major League career, it is probably the inconsistency.
For three innings Tuesday, he was sharp, front-hipping sinkers to right-handed hitters and using his full pitch mix to left-handers. He allowed just one base runner. He looked in control, as he had for most of his previous two outings when he picked up a pair of quality starts.
Things started going off the rails in the fourth, with Kevin Pillar pouncing on an inside sinker that was supposed to be on the outer-third of the plate for a three-run homer. The Angels would end up tallying five runs (three earned) against Priester over his 4 1/3 innings, which paired with a three-hit performance by the Pirates’ offense for a long night at PNC Park. Los Angeles would go on to win, 9-0.
In Priester’s eyes, he was getting the Angels to take swings they didn’t want to take through those first three innings. In the fourth, he started to hyperfocus on throwing strikes.
“Certainly, that is the goal,” explained Priester. “That’s what you want to do every time, but it’s also not great to hyperfocus on it. Just go out there and keep continuing to move smoothly and we probably avoid a lot of that.”
Priester hasn’t had a single run of support while he was still pitching in his four Major League starts this year, which almost makes his performance on the mound a secondary concern to the offense’s struggles. Manager Derek Shelton acknowledged that he thinks that can play a factor on his performance, but he didn’t let it become an excuse.
“The things that he can control are the most important things,” said Shelton. “Obviously, the fact that we haven’t scored any runs for him is definitely a challenge for him. But in terms of him singularly, we have to just continue to finish that development.”
