This story was excerpted from Justice delos Santos’ Pirates Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

As John Baker leaned on the railing of the first-base dugout at Peoples Natural Gas Field, Paul Skenes was on the collective consciousness of the 10,164 fans -- plus the dozens of players, coaches, media and staff -- who were in the ballpark that night. Skenes, though, wasn’t the only young pitcher in the organization whom Baker discussed on that historic night in Toon Town.

Prior to Skenes’ Double-A debut, Baker also discussed Roansy Contreras and Quinn Priester, both of whom are currently with Triple-A Indianapolis, fighting their way back to the Majors.

ROANSY CONTRERAS

If nothing else, Contreras’ season has been eventful. To summarize:

April: Contreras has a 3.58 ERA and 2.95 FIP in five starts (27 2/3 innings).

May: Contreras has a 5.64 ERA and 6.67 FIP in his next four starts (22 1/3 innings), then pitches out of the bullpen in his last appearance of the month.

June 2: Contreras re-joins the rotation after one relief outing and allows five earned runs and two home runs in a four-inning start.

June 7: Contreras is unable to finish the first inning, allowing seven earned runs and recording one lone out.

June 14 to July 5: Contreras pitches out of the bullpen, and despite several good outings, he has a 9.75 ERA and 7.35 FIP across 12 innings.

July 6: Contreras is optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis.

July 14: Contreras is optioned to the Rookie-level Florida Complex League Pirates, allowing him to work in a controlled environment away from game competition.

Aug. 4: Contreras pitches two scoreless innings with Single-A Bradenton, his first game action in roughly a month.

Aug. 8: Contreras is assigned from Single-A Bradenton to Triple-A Indianapolis.

Currently, Contreras is making regular appearances for Indianapolis. In four games (three starts) for Indianapolis, Contreras has allowed five earned runs across 16 innings (2.81 ERA) with 15 strikeouts, six walks and three home runs allowed (5.48 FIP).

As important as Contreras’ results is his stuff, specifically his velocity. After averaging 95.6 mph on his four-seam fastball in ‘22, Contreras’ heater was down to 94.3 mph in ‘23. During Contreras’ two relief outings in July, his four-seam fastball was down to 93.8 mph.

In four starts with Indianapolis, Contreras’ four-seam fastball has averaged 92.8 mph, and he has yet to touch 95 mph (his single-hardest pitch has been 94.8 mph). Velocity is not the be-all, end-all, especially if Contreras is able to better utilize his secondary pitches, but his heater will be worth monitoring as the season winds down.

“We had the opportunity to do what's best for the player, which was to put him around the people that spent a lot of time with him in 2021 to help him get mechanically sound,” Baker said. “It's not an arm thing with Ro. It's about being in the right positions all the time and maintaining that over the course of the season. And so, having the opportunity to be able to send him down to the FCL and get him back trending in the right direction, we're starting to see the velo start to tick up, which is the purpose of the movement.”

QUINN PRIESTER

Major League hitters didn’t waste any time welcoming Priester to the big leagues.

In six starts with the Pirates, Priester allowed 29 earned runs across 28 2/3 innings. The drop in strikeout rate (8.62 K/9 before his callup, 7.22 K/9 in the Majors) didn’t help his cause, but the real killer was the spike in walks and home runs. With Indianapolis (pre-promotion), Priester had a 3.59 BB/9 and 0.62 HR/9. In the Majors, Priester had a 5.65 BB/9 and 2.20 HR/9.

“Besides the oblique last year, he had never really run into any adversity,” Baker said. “Pitcher of the Year last year and in ‘21, I think when he got called up he was the second-youngest pitcher in the International League. So again, somebody who is probably ahead of a traditional timeline. Going up into the big leagues, getting the real feedback of what is going to work in his game and what’s not working in his game, he’s already starting to make adjustments.”

One of those adjustments has been the incorporation of a cutter. Baseball Savant does not track Priester as having thrown a cutter in his first two appearances back with Indianapolis, but Baker and general manager Ben Cherington (per 93.7 The Fan) confirmed that he is working on the pitch.

Priester also showed a noticeable uptick in his sinker velocity during his appearance this past Friday. During his time with the Pirates, Priester’s sinker velocity averaged 92.7 mph. In his most recent appearance, Priester’s sinker was up to 94.7 mph.

“For Quinn, it’s mastering the execution of the fastball and getting that cutter consistent, and then taking what he learned from the big leagues and applying it,” Baker said. “He’s already starting to do that in Indianapolis.”