Manager Alex Cora saw Quinn Priester pitch in person when the 24-year-old righty started the final game of Boston’s 2024 season and earned the win.
It was Priester’s only major league start after the Red Sox acquired the former first round draft pick from the Pirates ahead of last year’s trade deadline. He tossed 5 innings and allowed just one run, four hits and one walk while striking out two.
Priester has also gotten Cora’s attention here early in spring training camp.
“Priester is another guy that caught my eye. Kind of like impressive,” Cora said Friday at JetBlue Park. “He put (in) work in the offseason. He’s a lot stronger. We saw what he did the last day. He’s got good stuff. He looks really good.”
Priester — who made 14 starts in 2023-24 with the Pirates — increased his velocity during the final two months of last season with Triple-A Worcester. He threw 34 sinkers in his final Triple-A start, averaging 94.1 mph and topping out at 96.5 mph. That’s after his fastball averaged 93.0 mph in 44 ⅔ innings with the Pirates before the trade.
The Red Sox have built strong starting pitching depth behind their six proven big league starters in Garrett Crochet, Tanner Houck, Brayan Bello, Walker Buehler, Lucas Giolito and Kutter Crawford.
The Worcester starting rotation could include Cooper Criswell (18 starts for Boston last year), Richard Fitts, Priester, Hunter Dobbins and 2016 AL Rookie of the Year Michael Fulmer.
Criswell has a rare fourth minor league option and so he’s eligible to go back and forth between Worcester and Boston without a change in his 40-man roster status.
That depth could be a factor early. Crawford is “behind” right now with patellar tendon soreness.
Bello, meanwhile, has been shut down for a few days because of shoulder soreness. But Cora said it’s “nothing to be alarmed” about and he expects Bello to resume his throwing program Sunday or Monday.
‘We’ll see where we’re at now with Kutter and Bello," Cora said. “We’ll see what happens. I’m not alarmed yet. I think it’s too early for that.”
The improved pitching depth is a nice change from the past two years. The Red Sox used nine different relievers to start 21 bullpen games in 2023-24 combined.
“It’s huge,” Cora said about the depth. “We talk about that weekend last year when Nick (Pivetta) was a little bit banged up coming out of the Texas one. We had to skip him and it was a bullpen day and it didn’t work. The next day — that’s just our luck — Pax (James Paxton) gets hurt (early in his start) ... and for a week we’re playing catch up. We didn’t have the talent to actually solve that problem at that moment. So this year, I think we’re going to be in a good spot."
Cora has been impressed with both Priester and Fitts who allowed just four earned runs in 20 ⅔ innings (1.74 ERA) over four starts for Boston at the end of last year.
“You saw them last year when they came up. Fitts was great. He threw a lot of strikes. Still trying to maintain the velocity. I think it’s very important for him,” Cora said.
