In the transaction that sent righty Quinn Priester from Boston to Milwaukee last month, the Red Sox confirmed on Monday that they had acquired right-hander John Holobetz from the Brewers as the player to be named later.
Just last summer, the 22-year-old Holobetz was selected in the fifth round of the draft by the Brewers. After the draft, the Old Dominion product failed to throw in 2024, but it is off to a great start in 2025. He’s tossed 24 innings over five appearances in A-ball, logging a low 3.00 ERA on 16 hits and five walks with 31 strikeouts. Holobetz has walked just 5.1% of his opponents and fanned 31.3% of them.
It’s a fantastic start to his pro career, but as a former college pitcher beginning off in A-ball, Holobetz hasn’t yet been pushed by older and more sophisticated opponents. How he does in eventual movements up the ladder will be telling. Prior to the season, the 6’3″ righty wasn’t considered one of Milwaukee’s top prospects. In college, he mostly worked as a reliever, but in professional ball, the Brewers have given him longer outings thus far.
In return for Priester, the Red Sox obtained two players, including Holobetz and outfielder Yophery Rodriguez. Priester was acquired by the Red Sox before to the 2024 trade deadline in a transaction that sent former first-round pick Nick Yorke to Pittsburgh. In return, Milwaukee traded their Competitive Balance (Round A) draft pick to Boston. Rodriguez has participated in 19 games with the Red Sox’ High-A team and turned up a .224/.402/.418 hitting line with more walks (21.8%) than strikeouts (17.2%) in 87 plate appearances.
Priester has been essentially what the Brewers, who were in dire need of starting pitching, had hoped for for the majority of the season. He has been a reliable back-end starter who can keep the Brew Crew in the game with five-inning efforts. Priester had pitched to a 3.79 ERA through his first four starts, but when the Cubs hammered him for seven runs yesterday, his ERA ballooned to 5.79.
Overall, it’s not a pleasing set of data, though. The 5.79 ERA — exaggerated by one particularly terrible start or not — is complemented by dismal strikeout and walk numbers of 15.7% and 14.8%, respectively. In his last four outings, Priester has walked at least three hitters. Despite his impressive 56.8% ground-ball percentage, the absence of missed bats and concerning command problems provide it little comfort.
That said, the Brewers hold custody of Priester for the next six seasons, and he still has a minor league option available. At just 24 years old, he is a high prospect and previous first-round choice with a strong minor league record. As the season progresses, the Brewers will be hoping he can strengthen that command and establish himself as a dependable staff member. His pitch mix has been somewhat altered, and a new cutter that sits just over 92 mph has been added to go along with his sinker-focused strategy. It’s unclear if he will continue with the offering because that pitch has already been hit pretty hard.
Priester is now scheduled to play with Chad Patrick, Jose Quintana, Tobias Myers, and Freddy Peralta. Although DL Hall, Aaron Ashby, Aaron Civale, Nestor Cortes, Brandon Woodruff, and Robert Gasser are all recovering from injuries, only Woodruff is now on the verge of making a comeback for Milwaukee.
