Red Sox Acquire Quinn Priester From Pirates For Nick Yorke

Image credit: Nick Yorke (Tom Priddy/Four Seam Images)

The Red Sox continue to add prior to Tuesday’s trade deadline, agreeing Monday on a trade to send infielder Nick Yorke to the Pirates for righthanded pitcher Quinn Preister. First reported by ESPN’s Jeff Passan, the swap helps to provide reinforcements for a Red Sox pitching staff that has struggled over the last two months, ranking 19th in MLB in ERA and 17th in FIP.

The resurgent Yorke, Boston’s first-rounder in 2020, has hit .310/.408/.490 with six home runs and a 14.2% walk rate for Triple-A Worcester. Priester has made 10 appearances and six starts for Pittsburgh this season, bouncing between Triple-A and the major leagues.

RED SOX RECEIVE

Quinn Priester, RHP
Age: 23

Taken No. 18 overall in the 2019 draft out of Chicago-area high school Cary-Grove, Priester debuted for the Pirates in 2023. Over two seasons spanning 20 appearances, 14 starts, and 94.2 innings, Priester’s production has been well below-average. Over that time, he has complied a 5-9 record with a 6.46 ERA backed by a 5.82 FIP. In the majors Priester, has struggled to keep the ball in the ballpark with a 1.81 HR/9 and .282 opponent batting average.

While not a strikeout machine in the minors, Priester has struggled to miss bats in the major leagues with a career 15.4% strikeout rate and a 9.9% swinging strike rate. Priester has five pitch shapes: A sinker and four-seam fastball sitting 92-94 mph to go with a slider, curveball and changeup. Priester’s best pitch is his hard gyro slider, which sits 85-87 mph and has been clocked as high as the low-90s. In this way, Priester fits the mold of Boston’s slider-first approach to pitching in 2024. Whether or not the Red Sox can unlock another gear is unclear, but he fits their current archetype of starter.

PIRATES RECEIVE

Nick Yorke, 2B/OF
Age: 22

Boston’s first-rounder in 2020, Yorke was a preseason Top 100 prospect in 2022, but a tough pair of seasons in 2022 and 2023 saw his stock plummet. After an early-season promotion to Triple-A Worcester in 2024, Yorke seemed to rediscover his swing and the production followed. Yorke shows advanced pitch recognition skills with a chase rate of 22.1% and solid bat-to-ball skills (19% zone-miss rate).

He’s also showing some of the best power of his career, showcased by his 105.3 mph 90th percentile exit velocity. Yorke looks like another successful product of the Red Sox bat speed training, as his bat speed grades out as above-average. Yorke’s bat is his carrying tool, but he’s shown some versatility seeing time at his native position of second base as well as left field this season. He could be a majors option at second base and provide cover for Nick Gonzales, who was recently placed on the injured list.