Brewers right-hander Quinn Priester is pointing toward Spring Training as he works back from the thoracic outlet surgery he had in June. The procedure carried an estimated recovery window of eight to ten months, and Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that Priester is expected to be ready by then.
That would put him on the shorter end of the recovery range, which is good news for Milwaukee after a lost season. Priester is currently sidelined for the postseason while he rehabs from the surgery that officially closed the book on his 2025 campaign.
The 26-year-old’s breakout came last year after Milwaukee acquired him in an early-season trade with the Red Sox. He gave the Brewers 157 1/3 innings, logging 24 starts and five relief appearances while posting a 3.32 ERA.
His strikeout and walk rates - 20.2% and 7.7% - were solid rather than flashy, but he made those numbers work by pounding the bottom of the zone and getting grounders at a 56.1% clip, fifth-best among major league pitchers with at least 150 innings. FanGraphs credited him with 1.8 wins above replacement, and his 4.01 FIP and 3.96 SIERA suggested a useful mid-rotation arm even if they sat a little above his ERA.
The hope was that Priester could build on that season, but the health issues piled up instead. He dealt with wrist discomfort in the second half of 2025, then a nerve issue during Spring Training this year.
Milwaukee tried to get him back through a rehab assignment from late April into early June, but it went sideways fast: he allowed 28 earned runs in 16 innings across three minor league levels. The Brewers stopped the rehab assignment on June 12, and Priester had thoracic outlet surgery on June 22.
A ten-month timeline would have pushed him beyond Opening Day, and even if he’s tracking well now, he’ll need a proper spring buildup if everything stays on schedule. That part comes with an asterisk, though, because of the looming lockout.
If games are canceled, teams also won’t be able to communicate with players on their 40-man rosters until the lockout ends. The Brewers will presumably sort out Priester’s rehab plan before that point so he can keep building on his own if spring work gets disrupted.
When the Brewers do get back to baseball, the rotation picture could look different up top. Jacob Misiorowski and Logan Henderson are expected to hold the first two spots, with Priester, Robert Gasser, Kyle Harrison, and Shane Drohan in the mix behind them. Priester also picked up major league service time while on the 60-day injured list this year, and MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects him for $1.3 million in his first arbitration trip.
That makes Priester one of the more affordable pieces in Milwaukee’s 16-player arbitration class, which Swartz estimates will cost $59.1 million in all. The priciest names in that group are Trevor Megill at $8 million, Andrew Vaughn at $8.5 million, Brice Turang at $9.5 million, and William Contreras at $14.6 million, or a $14.5 million club option. MLBTR’s Payroll Tracker has the Brewers at $117.7 million in cash payroll for 2027 and a $136.3 million luxury tax figure, with the possibility of added spending if the next CBA brings a salary floor.
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