'Less Clutter;' Milwaukee Brewers Pitcher Quinn Priester Reveals Why He Has Improved so Much After 3-2 Win Over Cardinals

Early in the season, the Brewers were in desperate need of starting pitching. As injuries forced most of their rotation onto the IL, Milwaukee was forced to look to the trade market in order to find a starter.

And so, on April 7, they sent Yophery Rodriguez, their seventh overall prospect, to the Boston Red Sox for Priester. At the time of the trade, many fans were unhappy because Rodriguez was one of their best prospects and Priester had a 6.23 career ERA up to that point.

But Priester impressed in his first few starts for Milwaukee, earning his first win in his second start after tossing five innings of shutout ball.

However, Priester struggled with walks, and that tendency soon caught up to him. He allowed five runs in his fourth start for the Brewers and seven runs in his fifth. Again, may fans were unhappy that Milwaukee had acquired him.

Indeed, it was not until his eighth appearance that he pitched more than 5.0 innings for the Brewers, and that was a game in which he did not start. That being said, something appears to have clicked since then.

Going into Sunday and dating back to May 25, which included four appearances (two starts), Priester was 3-0 with a sparkling 1.96 ERA. In Sunday’s win against the Cardinals, he went 6.0 innings, allowed just one run on four hits (and no walks), and struck out three.

Milwaukee Brewers Starting Pitcher Quinn Priester Explains How His Mindset Is Different After Rough Start to the Season

On the season now, Priester is 4-2 with a 3.46 ERA. At one point, his ERA for the year had peaked at 5.79, but has steadily come down with each passing appearance.

After the game against St. Louis on Sunday, he explained how his mental approach to the game has changed:

“I think there’s just a lot less clutter, you know? It’s just a more clean thought process where there’s not as much ‘this or that,’ but more, ‘Hey, we’re going with this and we’re going to throw it really well.’

“Even today, you don’t get a strike, you don’t get a call going your way, who cares? You can’t change it. Complaining about it isn’t going to help anybody. Just make the next pitch.

“Having that mindset, I think, has alleviated all the ‘Oh that feels different or that isn’t something I’m used to’ because the expectation is the same.

“So, just going out there to do the job that’s asked of me and trying to exceed those expectations and help us win.”

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