Atlanta Braves Mock Draft Review: Quinn Priester Makes Updated Fangraphs List

His Arsenal

According to Perfect Game.org, Priester has a ¾ arm slot and sits in the low-90s with his four-seam fastball (ramps it up to 95 MPH at times), while also throwing a high-80s two-seamer, which is said to be his “best pitch”, with spin rates of 1,700 RPM.

Here’s a start in early April where it’s said he reached 96 MPH with his heater:

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A nice two-seam isn’t as highly regarded as it once was, now that we’re in the age of launch angle, but it would be refreshing to see a pitcher dominate with some darting fastballs — a fastball that runs in on hitters can be a dangerous weapon.

We’ll have to see, but something that could potentially help Priester find success in the early going — if he doesn’t already possess this ability — is if he can locate that four-seamer at the top of the zone.

Even though the current high regularity of top-of-the-zone fastballs may be just a temporary trend, the strategy works — and works well.

An effective low to mid-90s fastball that can be located with above-average command, coupled with a running two-seam at the knees of hitters could be a solid 1-2 punch for Priester.

Here’s what Perfect Game had to say about his curveball:

"Very tight spin on a power curveball with late bite, got in a groove with the curveball and showed advanced feel for it."

Tight curveballs to some people sound boring, but even though they lack the big looping drops of a 12-6 type breaking ball, the pitch makes up for it by usually being less risky.

Pitchers who keep their curves tight tend to ‘hang’ them less, which in turn, helps to eliminate a lot of those 500 foot home runs we see on Quick Pitch when a guy forgets to make his curve… curve.

Priester’s curveball is what you would call an 11-5 curve, a curveball that generates more horizontal movement than vertical. So a mistake-curve by Priester is likely to miss inside or outside of the zone, rather than up-down, in theory.

He didn’t throw very many curveballs in his appearance during the Under Armour All-America game at Wrigley Field last year, but the ones he threw generated some swing-and-misses.

His Make-up

As with many of the draft prospects on Fangraphs’ THE BOARD, there are notes for each player on the list that McDaniel and Logenhagen share for readers.

The notes on Priester are rather small, but here’s what they said about him at Fangraphs:

"Priester flashes a lot of above average abilties, does it easy, has projection and is a cold-weather arm, a demographic that typically peaks later."

The term “has projection” has been used in a lot of the reports I have read regarding Priester. And I think this could be an undervalued trait.

Player make-up and the word projection as listed above, can mean several different things; but I always think of these words or terms as bonuses when it comes to what a player has to offer.

According to South Side Sox (an SB site), Priester “is essentially a self-taught pitcher, and knows what he’s doing on the mound.”

Their write-up includes many different scouting notes on Priester as a pitcher — many that we’ve already covered here — but that statement stuck out to me.

A player, regardless of position, can have all the talent and ability in the world; though, a player that not only possesses skill, but also knows his trade inside and out, in my opinion, can reach a higher peak within in his career.

My Thoughts

To me, Quinn Priester just feels like an Atlanta Braves Guy. It seems that the Braves have a nack for bringing in players with great attitudes and a solid understanding of how the game is supposed to be played.

My opinion on the Atlanta Braves taking Priester with their 21st pick in the MLB Draft heavily depends on who they select with their first pick. If the first pick is a position-player than I wouldn’t be opposed to the organization taking Priester.

I still believe strongly that this year’s MLB Draft is a chance to bring in a big-time bat, and if a bat is indeed what the Braves go for at #9, then a guy like Priester would make an excellent pitcher to choose.