Typically, we do not cover preps at this site, nor do we get hyper local in our coverage, but Quinn Priester is a special case. He’s a lot more than just the biggest star athlete at Cary-Grove High School in Cary, Illinois.
Priester attends the same prep school as my nephews and nieces, an institution that will one day be attended by a few more nieces and nephews of mine. Therefore, I’m a C-G fan and I have heard about Quinn Priester for awhile now. Take a look at this photo below:
That’s a Cary-Grove high school baseball game, and you’ll see that the crowd is largely composed of Major League Baseball scouts brandishing their radar guns. The readout on the guns in that photo? Perhaps as high as 97 m.p.h. as his ol’ #1 has been reported to have reached as high as that speed.
A lot of the draftniks also seem to believe that he has the best curveball in this class. Priester may not be considered the top overall high school arm in this draft, but he is widely regarded to be the one with the highest upside. Scouts love his athleticism, and 6’3” 198 lb frame.
It’s thought that if he could further develop an off-speed pitch to supplement his superlative four seam fast ball and high spinning number two, he just might be the best overall pitching prospect in this entire draft class.
Priester’s stock has risen as much as any prospect throughout this draft cycle, and thus he has great slot value into the late teens and early 20s in the first round. It all adds up to Quinn Priester having numerous landing spots come June 3rd.
Let’s take a look at where a few MLB mock drafts have the Cary product going, and their justification as to why.
Quinn Priester MLB Draft mocksourcing
MLB.com: #18 Pittsburgh Pirates
The Big Lead: #15 Los Angeles Angels
SB Nation (Seattle Mariners- Lookout Landing): #23 Colorado Rockies
Full Press Coverage: #19 St. Louis Cardinals
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly appears on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, also contributes to Chicago Now. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram. The content of his cat’s Instagram account is unquestionably superior to his.