Two young right-handers who someday perhaps could anchor the top of the Pittsburgh Pirates rotation will get to share a national stage next month.
Roansy Contreras and Quinn Priester were selected to participate in the MLB All-Star Futures Game. Contreras, 21, and Priester, 20, each rank among the Pirates’ top 13 prospects, as ranked by Baseball America.
Acquired in the offseason Jameson Taillon trade to the New York Yankees, Contreras ranks second in the Double-A Northeast League in ERA (2.00), strikeouts (64 in 45 innings), batting average against (.178) and walks/hits per inning pitched (0.84) — all despite being the ninth-youngest player in the league.
Column from @KGorman_Trib | Development of No. 1 pick Quinn Priester paramount for #Pirates https://t.co/Y2TRutAN0V
— Tribune-ReviewSports (@TribSports) March 1, 2020
A 2019 first-round pick, Priester has a 3.32 ERA and 37 strikeouts in 37 innings for the Greensboro Grasshoppers of the High-A East League. He is ranked as the Pirates’ fourth-best prospect and No. 58 in all of baseball.
The Futures Game is annually played the Sunday before the MLB All-Star Game.
The most recent time the Pirates had two pitchers participate in the game was 2012, when Gerrit Cole and Jameson Taillon took part.
The 2020 All-Star Game and Futures Game were because of the coronavirus pandemic. Infielder Will Craig represented the Pirates at the most recent Futures Game in 2019 at Cleveland’s Progressive Field.
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