Quinn

Priester

This opens up a spot on the 40-man for Joel Kuhnel. Priester has already served his 60 days while recovering from thoracic outlet syndrome, so this is just a paper move for him. He’s currently rehabbing in the Arizona Complex League.

Milwaukee remains optimistic that Priester will make it back from thoracic outlet syndrome without needing surgery, but the results have been abysmal in a pair of rehab starts at Triple-A Nashville recently. The 25-year-old’s fastball velocity has been down in the 91-92 mph range and he’s not where the Brewers want him to be at this stage in his rehabilitation. He’ll attempt to get back on track against some lower-level competition moving forward. He’s nowhere remotely close to being an option for the Brewers at the moment.

It was more of the same for Priester as he averaged just 91.8 mph on his sinker and threw just 18 of 38 pitches for strikes while failing to complete the first inning. The 25-year-old has been working his way back from thoracic outlet syndrome and the results have been utterly abysmal through a handful of rehab outings. There’s zero reason for the Brewers to expedite his return to the majors given how he’s looked so far.

Priester threw 34 of his 68 pitches for strikes and induced just four whiffs on 21 swings. His sinker sat 92.2 mph, which is down almost two mph from what we saw last season. The 25-year-old is working hard to return from thoracic outlet syndrome, but he has a 20.25 ERA in 9 1/3 innings across five rehab starts, with a 9/14 K/BB ratio. With how well Logan Henderson and Kyle Harrison are pitching, there is no reason for the Brewers to rush Priester back.

Not great. Priester allowed nine of the dozen batters he faced to reach base safely, including six straight to open the second inning. He struck out two, issued three walks and hit one batter. The 25-year-old has been working his way back from thoracic outlet syndrome and is still weeks away from being an option for Milwaukee in any capacity.

Priester last pitched on May 1, giving up five runs while getting six outs for Triple-A Nashville. His fastball velocity has been down 2.4 mph from last year in his three Triple-A outings.

It’s a bit unclear whether Priester suffered a physical setback or the Brewers merely want him to hit the reset button after three abysmal rehab outings over the past two weeks. The 25-year-old has been on the shelf working his way back from thoracic outlet syndrome since spring training. There should be an update from Milwaukee at some point this week. However, fantasy managers shouldn’t expect him back anytime soon.

The scoreless innings are great, but Priester also threw just 18 of his 45 pitches for strikes, which is a 40 percent strike rate. On top of that, his cutter averaged 88.7 mph, which is 3.6 mph below his normal velocity. His sinker was also 2.3 mph below his normal mark, and he only threw five of them on the day, none for strikes. There still seems to be a long way to go here. We would not be stashing Priester in fantasy leagues unless you have lots of IL spots.

Priester has been out recovering from thoracic outlet syndrome since spring training and threw 29 pitches in the abbreviated outing. He walked three batters and posted two strikeouts. What’s more concerning is that Priester’s cutter averaged 89 mph, which is 3.4 mph below where he was at last season, and his sinker sat 91.2 mph, which is 2.7 mph below where he was last season. The 25-year-old is expected to require two additional rehab starts before he’s an option to rejoin Milwaukee’s rotation, but we’re still not convinced he’s anywhere close to being healthy.

Priester was diagnosed with thoracic outlet syndrome in spring training but was advised that he did not need surgery. He has been facing live hitters and will now begin what should be a lengthy rehab assignment. Even if Priester feels good and no longer has symptoms, we would expect him to make at least three starts in Triple-A since he never even got into a game during spring training.