As the Pittsburgh Pirates continue to spiral, their struggles on the mound have become a real concern.
The Pirates lost their fourth straight game on Friday night against the Red Sox at home. Three of their four losses have seen the Bucs give up 6+ runs, with another shellacking at the hands of Boston.
Though some of those struggling have come out of the bullpen, the Pirates as a whole have suffered some bad performances on the mound as of late. That continued as Quinn Priester made his season debut against the Red Sox, having recently been called up from Triple-A Indianapolis.
Priester is filling in for the injured Marco Gonzales, who went on the 15-day Injured List after his last start. Gonzales was pitching well for the Pirates, amassing 3 starts and 17.0 innings to a 2.65 ERA. Potential injuries were a big concern when the team acquired him, and now that fear has come to fruition.
Meanwhile, Quinn Priester had been getting reps in at Triple-A. Through 3 starts and 13.2 innings pitched, Priester recorded a 3.95 ERA before his call up. His return to the big leagues was the hope that he could finally manage the game while on the major league mound.
Last season, the major leagues haunted him. In 10 games (8 starts) and 50.0 innings, Priester slogged his way to a nightmare 7.74 ERA for the Pirates, with a miserable 1.33 strikeout/walk ratio. His ERA last season was fourth worst among the team, and worst among starting pitchers for the Pirates.
With a new season, however, perhaps things could turn around. Getting the Friday night start on a home stand weekend was a good opportunity for him to begin to right the ship in his major league career.
It was a disaster.
Priester surrendered two solo home runs in the top of the first inning, giving the Red Sox an early 2-0 lead. The rest of his night didn’t get much better. Through 4.1 innings pitched, Priester allowed 7 hits, 5 runs (4 earned), and three home runs against. He struck out 2 batters to 1 walk.
His ERA to start the year is 8.31.
He did not look comfortable on the mound all night. Giving up two home runs right out of the gate probably rattled him in his first start of the year, and he never fully recovered from that. He unfortunately looked a lot like the Priester of 2023.
With Priester taken off the mound in the fifth, the Pirates sent out Josh Fleming to finish the inning. Then, for the sixth, Roansy Contreras was called upon to take over, and he struggled mightily as well.
In 2.0 innings, Contreras allowed 3 hits and 3 runs, including a fourth home run for the Red Sox. With the way the Pirates’ bats have been performing recently, this game was probably over after Priester’s outing, but Contreras’ time only solidified it.
The Pirates, meanwhile, scored only a single run, coming in the ninth inning to end the shutout bid for Boston. That triumph was powered by an Alika Willians triple, who was brought home on a sacrifice groundout by pinch hitter Edward Olivares.
If there was a positive from this game, and I’m not sure that there is, it’s that Williams continues his hot streak. A lot of people questioned why he made the opening day roster ahead of someone like Liover Peguero or Nick Gonzales, but Williams has been hitting very well to start the year.
Despite being primarily known for his defensive work, Williams has clearly put in some extra time working at the plate, and it has rewarded him. He is batting .348 with 2 RBI in the early goings here.
The Pirates have a chance to rebound and stop the four game skid Saturday when they meet Boston again. Mitch Keller will take the mound for the Pirates.
Fifth Avenue Sports 
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