The Quinn Priester trade is looking better and better with each start

With a decimated pitching staff during the second week of the 2025 season, the Milwaukee Brewers sought to find a creative solution that would help them both this season and in the years to come. The result was an early-April trade riddled with controversy; Milwaukee traded away one of their top prospects, Yophery Rodriguez, a first-round pick in this year's draft, and a player to be named later that turned into another difficult departure as the Boston Red Sox selected intriguing pitching prospect John Holobetz. In return, the desperate Brewers received a former first-round pick who had yet to hit his stride in the majors in Quinn Priester.

Priester struggled in his first few appearances in a Brewers uniform. In back-to-back starts in late April and early May, Priester allowed five and seven earned runs while not covering more than five innings. With talented prospects waiting in Triple-A and injured Brewers starting pitchers beginning to return, questions of whether or not Priester was deserving of a rotation spot arose. However, Priester has quieted the noise with his performance over the past month, much to the delight of Milwaukee's front office and Brewers fans everywhere.

Quinn Priester is proving the Brewers' front office right with his recent performance

In six of his last eight starts, dating back to a start against the Houston Astros on May 7, Quinn Priester has allowed exactly one earned run. Additionally, he avoided the big blowout in each of his other two starts, allowing just two and three earned runs in the pair. After his ERA spiked at 5.79 prior to his game against Houston, Priester has his season mark down to 3.46 after the most recent addition to his growing list of quality starts.

However, his start this afternoon sits on a tier above the rest, simply due to the context surrounding the game. After a contentious game on Saturday night against their hated division foe, the St. Louis Cardinals, kick-started by a bush league play from William Contreras at first base, the teams met for a Sunday afternoon series finale, with just half a game separating them in the standings. A win would send the Brewers into their much-needed off day with a series win, a 5-5 homestand, and a game and a half lead over the Red Birds. A loss, on the other hand, would be a huge hit to morale for the streaky Brewers.

With a sold-out Father's Day crowd, Priester went six strong and allowed just one earned run. He struck out just three batters and didn't have his best stuff, but he persisted and gave the Brewers a strong start when they needed it most. The team ended up winning by a score of 3-2, and Priester was largely to thank.

While it's still too early to make a final determination on the winner and loser of the Priester trade, two months removed, things are looking much brighter for the Brewers than they did a month ago. While Priester improves, Yophery Rodriguez, the main piece of Boston's return in the deal, has struggled mightily in his new organization. He's slashing just .184/.320/.303 in 49 games for the Greenville Drive, the Red Sox’s High-A affiliate. Holobetz has maintained his strong start to the season following the trade, but he has allowed four home runs in five starts in the Red Sox organization while allowing just one during his five games with the Brewers’ Low-A affiliate.

It was never going to be cheap to acquire a starting pitcher who is both a former first-round pick and has more than five years of team control remaining, but the way Priester pitched over the last month suggests that he might be well worth the hefty price that the Brewers paid to add him to their roster.