Altered lifestyle a boon for Priester
BRADENTON, Fla. — The only thing missing from Quinn Priester’s offseason routinewas a golf cart.
In October, the Cary, Ill., native ditched the cold weather and rented a place in Parrish, Fla., located about 25 minutes northwest of Bradenton, with his girlfriend. The two bought a Weber grill and cook dinner together. Priester also spent much of his free time this offseason playing pickleball and golf, as well as fishing.
“Back home [near Chicago], you could never do that in the winter,” Priester said. “You get stuck inside. I really like the change of lifestyle. There are so many options to behappy and active outside.”
Priester — who was actually wearing a Jimmy Buffett T-shirt, a nod to one of his musical favorites — obviously isn’t retiring. It’s the polar opposite. The 23-year-old firstround pick in 2019 is just getting started after making his MLBdebut last season.
The changes Priester made were actually oriented toward his profession and feeling more athletic on the mound, a switchthe right-hander began to make toward the end of the season.
Too often in 2023, Priester caught himself feeling too robotic. Stiff even. It happened due to prior mechanical changes he made and also some poor body movement patterns.
A three-sport athlete in high school, most notably a successfultight end/defensive back on the football field, Priester said he ended last season knowing he needed to find a way to get back to feeling free and easy and athletic on the mound.
“We started to see it more toward the end of the year last year, when I freed myself up and had a little bit more fun,” Priester said. “But this offseason was really just a continuationof that, getting that locked inand being athletic.
“That’s the reason I was picked where I was. Once I take that away, I lose a huge strength.”
ToPriester’s point, through his first seven starts, he had a 9.09 ERA and allowed nine home runs in 32⅔ innings. During his final three, that droppedto 5.19.
That’s obviously nowhere near good enough. But it did show Priester enough that he had something to work with this offseason, when he decided to train at Cressey Sports Performance on the eastern side of the state to further refine his mechanics and pitchshapes.
Priester split his time between Parrish and Jupiter — one week here, three weeks there,that sort of thing.
“They helped get the movements back to being athletic, not as robotic and segmented,” Priester said. “I feel really good about the work we did this offseason and will continue to do this spring and intothe season.”
Sofar this spring, Priester’s velocity has been in the 93-94 mph range, with the occasional 95. He also insists it has come without “stepping on thegas.”
“Last year, if we hit 95, we were pretty fired up, which sounds ridiculous,” Priester said. “It feels easy, which is good because we really haven’t stepped on the gas pedal yet.
“Just want to be smart. Gotta be healthy. But I’m just really excited to get back into those games and live at-bats, to start competing again and really step on the gas with it andhave fun.”
There’s some functionality to Priester throwing harder, as he’s found that a firm fourseamer has opened the door for his biting curveball. The two tunnel well off of one another. It can compromise a hitter who’s forced to gear up tohit heat.
Due to some of the athleticism Priester has rediscovered — more torque created with his shoulders and hips, less wasted movement — his slider and curveball have been a little harder this spring.
But at the same time, if Priester wants to earn one of the final starting spots, it’s not all about how hard he throws. In his rookie season, Priester struggled to keep things from snowballing.
One or two bad at-bats turned into four or five. He lacked the ability to stop the bleeding. That will be the separator for Priester in 2024, manager Derek Shelton believes.
“The biggest thing with Quinn is consistency,” Shelton said. “Being able to control the damage will translate intomore consistency.”
There are few things more consistent than living the life of a retiree. Priester and his girlfriend have been using their grill “nonstop.” There have been plenty of steaks, and the other night, they made pasta with vodka sauce.
Priester didn’t mention what time they went to bed but doubtful it was later than 9 or 10 p.m. All of it could add up to a better on-field product in 2024 and a young pitcher better realizing his potential.
“It’s going to boil down to trusting myself,” Priester said.“I have the ability to be a great pitcher for us here and win a lot of games this year. It’s a matter of trusting myself and trusting the athleticism or going back to the old habits that have gotten me in sometough spots.
“I’m trending in a good direction right now, which is exciting. But I have to keep my head down, keep doing the same thing and trust it andhave fun.”