Brewers turn to Quinn Priester in bid for series sweep of Rockies

Milwaukee’s rotation has been hit hard by injuries in the first two weeks of 2025, so the team did something about it.

The Brewers acquired Quinn Priester from the Boston Red Sox on Monday, and the 24-year-old right-hander will make his debut with his new team on Thursday afternoon against the Colorado Rockies in Denver.

Colorado will counter with right-hander Ryan Feltner (0-0, 3.60 ERA) to try to salvage the finale of the three-game series. The Brewers won 17-2 on Wednesday night and have six home runs in the two games of the series.

Priester was pitching for Triple-A Worcester when he was traded to Milwaukee, so Thursday will serve as his first major league start this season. It also will be the first time he will face the Rockies, and he said he is excited about both experiences.

It will be a challenge making his first start at altitude, especially for a pitcher who describes himself as a “sinker guy” who induces ground balls and works quick innings.

“Keeping the ball down and changing speeds with the slider, the curveball, and changing looks off that sinker with the changeup,” Priester said, describing his pitch mix. “There’s a lot of things that I can do and do really well that makes me a great starter. “Ultimately, those strengths are what we’re going to capitalize on.”

Priester will try to match what the Brewers’ starters accomplished in the first two games of this series. Freddy Peralta gave up just one run in five innings in a 7-1 victory on Tuesday night, and Tyler Alexander, normally a reliever, pitched 3 2/3 innings of two-run ball in Wednesday’s win.

Colorado is trying to avoid being swept and losing five of six on its first homestand of the season. The Rockies’ starters began the season with a 2.61 ERA in the first seven games, but the last two saw Kyle Freeland allow four runs in 6 1/3 innings on Tuesday and Antonio Senzatela yield nine runs in 4 1/3 innings on Wednesday.

Feltner opened the homestand against the Athletics on Friday, giving up three runs (two earned) in five innings in his team’s 6-3, 11-inning loss. He is slated to make his fifth career start against Milwaukee and the fourth at Coors Field.

Feltner is 1-1 with a 3.32 ERA in his four starts versus the Brewers.

Feltner hopes for more offensive support than most of the starters have received on this homestand. Colorado beat the A’s 12-5 on Sunday but hasn’t scored more than four runs in the other games at the hitter-friendly park.

The Rockies’ woes were magnified by 14 strikeouts on Tuesday night, and they’re 1-for-16 with runners in scoring position in the first two games of the series.

“We have a number of guys not swinging the bat,” manager Bud Black said. “Collectively, it’s not a good thing going on right now. Hopefully, we snap out of it at some point.”

–Field Level Media