Quinn Priester makes MLB return Former top prospect called up to majors following injury to Marco Gonzales The Pittsburgh Pirates’ rotation to start the year he been a welcome surprise. Between Martin Perez holding a 2.55 earned run average (ERA) and Jared Jones setting the baseball world on fire to start his career, the rotation has kept them in most games this season. After Marco Gonzales landed on the injured list because of a left forearm muscle strain, Quinn Priester will be the next man up to continue the success. Priester’s first major league stint was not what Pirates’ fans had been hoping for. The former top prospect had lost some of his velocity and his good breaking stuff was not enough to make up for a fastball that was too hittable. The strikeouts were also not enough to make up for how hard he was getting hit in 2023. Albeit in a small sample size, Priester may be on the verge of a resurgence after working on those problems. After being drafted at ...
The debate on Paul Skenes’ fastball A critique on the fastball shape argument and why Skenes’ subpar four-seam shape should not matter By Aidan Treu Opinions on Paul Skenes’ fastball stem from two schools of thought. The first is that his subpar fastball shape could lead to trouble at the highest level. The second is he throws too hard for it to matter. For those unfamiliar, a fastball with bad shape can be referred to as a dead zone fastball. In simple terms, this means the pitch moves in a way that is easy for batters to predict. These pitches have no type of movement, whether vertical or horizontal, that makes them stand out from the fastball the batter is expecting. The first point in favor of Skenes is velocity is generally slightly more effective at getting whiffs than a decrease in fastball drop. Typically speaking, the less a pitcher can get their fastball to drop, the more ride it will have through the zone and the more it will almost appear to rise to a hitt...