DENVER — Nearly a decade ago, it was Gerrit Cole and Jameson Taillon.
Now, for this current prospect push, it’s Quinn Priester and Roansy Contreras who will represent the Pirates at the All-Star Futures game, which will be played July 11 at Coors Field as a precursor to the MLB All-Star game.
The seven-inning game will once again feature the National League against the American League and will be televised on MLB Network at 3 p.m.
The 25-player rosters were chosen by Major League Baseball, in conjunction with MLB Pipeline, Baseball America and the 30 major league clubs. They feature a total of 29 first-round draft picks and five second-round selections.
Priester, 20, was Pittsburgh’s first-round choice in 2019 and has gone 3-3 with a 3.32 ERA this season, racking up 37 strikeouts in nine starts with High-A Greensboro. Since June 9, Priester’s ERA is just 1.59 across four starts.
MLB Pipeline has Priester ranked second behind Nick Gonzales among Pirates prospects. Baseball America considers Priester the Pirates’ fourth-best prospect.
In his first season of affiliated ball, Priester has really dug deep into the process of getting better, picking things to work on between starts and responding well to the tougher competitive that he's faced.
“I feel that every start I’m making progress in one way or another, whether the stat line shows that or not,” Priester told the Post-Gazette last week. “That’s really all I’m looking for. I know strikeouts are going to come. The big games are going to come once I can start doing all these little things more consistently right."
Contreras is a 21-year-old the Pirates received as part of the Taillon deal. He began the year as the ninth-youngest player in the Class AA Northeast League and has gone 3-1 with a 2.00 ERA with 64 strikeouts, a 0.84 WHIP and .178 batting average against in eight starts for Class AA Altoona.
Contreras, who opened the season with 18⅔ consecutive scoreless innings, began the day Wednesday second in the Class AA Northeast League in ERA, strikeouts, batting average against and WHIP.
MLB Pipeline considers Contreras the Pirates’ 19th-best prospect, while Baseball America has him 13th. Both Contreras and Priester are among the sport’s top 100 prospects, per Baseball America.
The Pirates will send two pitchers to the All-Star Futures game for the first time since Cole and Taillon went together in 2012.
Medical updates
Director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk declined to put a firm timeline on Steven Brault's return, although the left-hander was set to throw a two-inning simulated game on Wednesday at Pirate City in Bradenton, Fla.
Brault (left lat strain) will then rejoin the Pirates for the upcoming homestand, and all involved parties will meet to chart the next steps in his return.
"Very exciting for Steven, very exciting for us," Tomczyk said. "We'll see how he comes out of that two-inning sim game. We're excited for our team to get our hands on him — we haven't seen him since spring training — and map out the next steps once we get some real, live reps with him."
Tomczyk has said previously that late July was a reasonable expectation for Brault's return, and nothing Tomczyk said Wednesday seemed to change that.
"Those are discussions that are ongoing," Tomczyk said of when Brault might be back. “We need to sit down with Steven to see how he comes out of the two innings and map out what's best for Steven. And then what's best for the organization.
“So, to say here, right now, we have a projected date for when Steven Brault returns to major league activity, no, we don't. But we're very encouraged by this progress in his rehab, and those conversations are ongoing."
Among the other updates Tomczyk shared:
• Trevor Cahill (left calf strain) has started running again, although he does not appear to be anywhere close to returning to competition. Cahill has been on the 10-day injured list since June 12 and is eligible to come off at any time.
• Luis Oviedo (left quad strain) threw a one-inning simulated game Tuesday at Coors Field and responded well to it. His progression will be further mapped out when the Pirates get home. He's also eligible to come off the IL at any point.
• Jose Soriano (Tommy John revision surgery) had his two-week, post-surgery followup appointment, and everything with him has "gone as planned and anticipated."
Another Tommy John guy, Blake Cederlind, had his post-surgical splint removed. Cederlind has started working on his range of motion.
• Miguel Yajure (right elbow) is throwing at Pirate City and should be stretched out to 120 feet by the end of the week. The right-hander who was acquired from the Yankees along with Contreras was shifted to the 60-day IL last week. He's eligible to come off in early August.
• Anthony Alford (wrist) is expected to return to the lineup for Class AAA Indianapolis in the coming days. The outfielder was involved in a collision at first base last week, cutting short a terrific month of June during which Alford hit .404 with a 1.269 OPS.
Jason Mackey: jmackey@post-gazette.com and Twitter @JMackeyPG.
First Published: June 30, 2021, 3:50 p.m.