Quinn Priester’s jog from the visitors bullpen under the right field bleachers at Wrigley Field between half innings Tuesday night required a moment to appreciate the environment.
When Pittsburgh Pirates manager Derek Shelton called on Priester to begin the second inning against the Cubs, the Cary native and . Priester made sure he took a deep breath and looked around at the 34,202 fans in the ballpark.
In his first big-league game against his favorite childhood team, Tuesday versus the Cubs in a 14-1 loss.
“You kind of forget everything that kind of goes on and being able to see the scoreboard again, the fans, and it sounds stupid, but the seventh-inning stretch, when it’s ‘Let’s Go Cubbies,’ it brings back a lot of nostalgia, a lot of memories,” Priester said before Thursday’s series finale. “So to actually be out there doing it, competing against the team that I grew up loving — I wanted a better result, I definitely want to beat them, but it was a really cool experience.”
Behind the scenes, his first visit to Wrigley as a major leaguer was a little more special. Priester was given a framed black Pirates flag with gold lettering, the type used in the flag standings above the Wrigley scoreboard. He was stunned by the gesture from the Cubs, which the Priester family has connected with over the years through his mom, Chris Foley-Priester, and her work with Advocate Health. Every spring training, Advocate and the Cubs team up to bring patients from Advocate Children’s Hospital and their families to Mesa, Ariz.
Priester isn’t sure yet where he will put the Pirates flag, but it has become his most cherished memento from his rookie season, eclipsing the baseballs from his first big-league strikeout or win. Priester, though, has his sights set on the big picture and helping the Pirates get back to the postseason next year. His outings against playoff-caliber lineups this year, notably the Philadelphia Phillies, Atlanta Braves and Milwaukee Brewers, are making the 23-year-old right-hander better.
“Getting a chance to face the best is what I want,” Priester said. "I want to be able to put us in that situation as soon as possible, but the experience is something that’s going to pay dividends for my career.”
Shelton believes the hardest part of transitioning to the majors for young pitchers is letting the game tell them what they need to do. Things pitchers can get away with in the minors won’t yield the same success against big-league hitters without making changes. Priester’s month in Triple A after Pittsburgh optioned him in mid-August created an opportunity.
“Since he went down, he’s done some different things with his delivery, the velocity has started to tick back up, which has been important on the fastball and the cutter, and now we’re actually seeing a different version of him with different weapons,” Shelton told the Tribune. “It’s going to be important for him to get the last couple starts of the season so we can see how that plays as he’s made those adjustments.”
Priester knows he possess big-league quality stuff. Moving forward into the offseason, the focus becomes harnessing it and smoothing out the peaks and valleys of his outings.
“It’s just a matter of being able to do it consistently at the big-league level in those high-stress situations, and the more I do it, the better I’m going to get at it,” Priester said. “And eventually we’re going to be great.”
Priester isn’t the only Pirate with local ties who could help keep the Cubs out of the postseason. Left-hander Ryan Borucki (Mundelein) and Jack Suwinski (Taft High School) are part of the Chicago-area trio, along with Bourbonnais native right-hander Colin Holderman.
“We’re all miserable because the Bears stink again,” Borucki said.
For Borucki, 29, his two relief appearances this week weren’t exactly how he envisioned pitching at Wrigley for the first time after he signed a free-agent deal with the Cubs in January. They called him up May 30, but the Cubs designated him for assignment two days later without the lefty pitching in a game. After his release, he quickly signed with Pittsburgh, where Borucki has posted a 2.72 ERA in 36 1/3 innings. He made two scoreless appearances this week against the Cubs.
“I like it much better this way, to be honest,” Borucki told the Tribune of his first Wrigley experience. “Growing up not a Cubs fan, so I like pitching against them.”
After , the Cubs will need Pittsburgh’s help down the stretch. Six of the Pirates’ final nine games are against the Cincinnati Reds and Miami Marlins, the latter of which they end the season with. The Cubs began Friday tied with Miami for the final wild-card spot.
“It’s one of those things where obviously you want to go out there and play as hard as you can, and yes, if you’re a spoiler, you’re spoiler, if you’re not, you’re not” Borucki said.
“Obviously being in division with (the Cubs and Reds), it’d be fun to knock teams out, but we don’t really focus on that. It’s just one of those things where you just take it day by day and play good baseball.”
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