Q. Quinn, could you take us through the subterfuge last night? I know you were asked about it after the game, but from your perspective how it all unfolded and what you thought of the whole thing?
QUINN PRIESTER: Yeah, it was fun to win last night and definitely put ourselves in a good position. But for me, obviously going to throw before the game instead of earlier than that was just -- I mean, I would say just a little bit of gamesmanship.
I feel like in the playoffs, you're looking for every single little edge that you can get. Did it do anything? I don't know. But we at least tried, and we're willing to do things that maybe not everybody would be to just try and give ourselves one little edge, and that's just kind of how I saw it.
It felt like if that was how I could help the team, I'm more than willing to do that.
Q. I just wanted to know throughout the regular season, just pitching behind this type of team that can just score in bunches and just constantly creates pressure for you guys? The offense really showed up the first two games of the series. What is it like pitching when your offense is producing at this rate?
QUINN PRIESTER: Yeah, it's a lot of fun. I think when the offense is playing this way and the way the offense has played all year, the goal is just to get them back in the dugout. If I can get them in with three quick ground balls, that's best case scenario, and that falls on me to keep filling it up and essentially give our guys quick innings on defense so that we can have longer innings on offense. That's always the goal.
That's how I see my job is just getting out there and getting us back in as quick as possible.
Q. After being on such a set schedule as a starting pitcher all season long, what has this wait been like? Has there been anything that's been agonizing about it? Can you fill us in on how you filled the time and stayed sharp?
QUINN PRIESTER: Yeah, I think it's just sticking to the process and the goals that we had kind of set all season is having the little things -- and throwing programs just being really deliberate over each throw and really not taking throws off, and whether it's trying to hit this cone or this lane with the sinker or the cutter or whatnot, I think it's just trusting even more so in the process day-to-day that we've put in place because there have been longer waits. Like over the All-Star break we had that seven days, and then I think in between Chicago and Toronto was a longer break.
For me, it's more just about staying in compete mode because when I get a lot of time, I kind of want to tinker with stuff, I can feel certain things. But the whole thing is it's October, and we're not going to pull a magic pitch out of thin air here. We just need to be really good and consistent with what we've been doing all year.
That's because the process that we've put together from the day-to-day. So really just trusting that and knowing that that's going to create a good result.
Q. First off, have you heard a lot of your Cub fanned friends and family coming into the series? Obviously having experience already having pitched here, how much does that help maybe some of those nerves that come with this kind of environment against the team you grew up rooting for?
QUINN PRIESTER: Yeah, I think definitely lots of texts from friends, family, teachers, coaches. Growing up in the area, everyone is a Cub fan. That's just the reality of it. A lot of texts being like, hey, I know I like the Cubs, but we're rooting for you guys. That's been fun. It's just been fun to be able to connect with those people.
But to your point in pitching here before, definitely it's been good. Now I'll pitch here in two jerseys, threw here with the Pirates one year and now with the Brewers, definitely an awesome environment to pitch in and super excited.
Then being here -- I've been to a World Series game here, so I know how great this crowd can be. Just excited to get out there and compete my butt off against a really good team and hopefully keep the crowd pretty quiet.
Q. You touched on it a little bit, but the difference between rest and rust for you with all this time off, and how you've reacted to it in the past.
QUINN PRIESTER: Yeah, it's part of being a major league player is -- I won't even say it's adversity, but just dealing with different circumstances. I'm just confident in my ability to be an athlete and go out there and, like I said, just really trust that this process that we've created from day-to-day is a really good one and has shown to be successful.
At this point there's no reason not to trust that and just go out and kind of do what I've been doing all year and trusting that and trusting my defense, trust that the offense is going to keep doing what they've been doing and just really play team baseball.
I'm not going to be perfect when I go out there. Nobody is. It's just about executing pitches, and whether I've had two days off or 10 days off, that doesn't change.
Q. Have you had a chance to kind of soak it in mentally what this moment means to you being at this ballpark and pitching in Game 3? Also, how do you handle the moment mentally?
QUINN PRIESTER: I think, yeah, I've been able to definitely -- there's been a lot of feelings of just pretty grateful for an opportunity. Growing up, coming to Wrigley Field all the time, let alone starting a playoff game here is definitely something that's really cool.
If I would have told my 10-year-old self this, it would be pretty darned cool. The goal is definitely to compartmentalize those thoughts and just go out there -- I've always been in my head, hey, let's just get the next out.
I think it's important to be grateful and to reflect that this is a pretty cool opportunity, but when the head hits the pillow tonight, it's compartmentalize those feelings and just get ready to go out there and get as many outs as I can tomorrow and compete the way I've competed all season and trust my defense. Like I said, trust my defense, trust our team to be great, and just go out there and do the best that I can for us.
Q. I believe it was in May when you had probably not your best start of the season against the Cubs, but after that point, you just had immense success. I wanted to know what's allowed you to have your best year of your career so far, post that start?
QUINN PRIESTER: I feel like the biggest thing that I had remembered -- that start obviously wasn't very fun or that game wasn't very fun in the sense that I definitely got punched in the mouth a little bit.
I was definitely proud that I was able to go out for the next three innings or whatever it was and give us as many pitches and not get into the bullpen in a game where it was kind of out of hand because of how I threw in that second or third inning, whatever it was.
But I kind of remember talking about it and thinking, like okay, how do we get better from this, it's not by not getting into major league games and pitching. Instead of thinking, man, kind of being anxious and maybe worried about going out there again, it was like, this is the only way I'm going to get better is by going out there again and just competing.
Certainly after that failure, it was something that we look back on like, hey, we need to make some changes, but the only way we're going to get better is by going out there and competing against major league teams. So every single time I took the mound, I was still as excited as ever to go out there and attack and compete and just get better, and early in the season, that was certainly the message of, hey, this is going to be a year-long process of us getting better. Where we're at right now is not where we're going to be.
That was kind of the message that was echoed all year, and the thing that I had thought is the only way we're going to get better is by pitching more games. And the more I was in, the more confidence I felt like kind of came through doing little things right like getting ground balls and executing sinkers to the spots that I want to. And then once you kind of start to do those things well, you can add on bits and pieces and then really become a pitcher.
Q. I'm wondering what you got just watching their at-bats against Freddy and then if you had a different perspective watching the game from the bullpen last night that you can take into tomorrow.
QUINN PRIESTER: Yeah, I think certainly Freddy and I do things a little bit differently. His fastball, more carry, breaking ball, changeup is really, really good. I think just the thing I took away is when you execute pitches, good things happen, whether it's just hitting the corners and sequencing, reading hitters, and then from the bullpen, definitely was a different perspective.
It was more difficult to tell whether balls were going to be homers or not, getting hit straight at us. But I definitely feel confident in the way I've kind of prepared all season for teams, and yeah, through watching Freddy and watching our guys, it just feels like, hey, we've got to execute pitches and get ahead, do the little things even more right. And those little details are kind of the difference makers, getting ahead of hitters, keeping the ball down for my sake, and essentially just not trying to do too much, not trying to strike out the world, just try to be me.
Q. Apologies if this was asked at the beginning, but you and Jameson Taillon were both in the Pirates organization at the same time for a year, year and a half. I know he was in the majors, but I was curious if you had crossed paths at all when you were in the organization together, and if so, what are your memories of being in the same org at the same time?
QUINN PRIESTER: Yeah, we did not -- not to my knowledge, and I hope I'm not forgetting maybe a moment in passing, but all I can remember is everybody there had nothing but great things to say about J-Mo, and I'm definitely excited to get out there and compete against him tomorrow. It's definitely exciting.
Q. Watching Andrew Vaughn hit that game-changing homer, do you feel a fraternity with him in that you both were at Triple-A when the trade happened here, and what should people know about what it takes to get to where he got to last night versus where he was when that trade happened?
QUINN PRIESTER: Yeah, I definitely think we both -- we definitely both take pride in being a part of the Brewers and being a part of this team in whatever role that we can. I think you'd have to talk to him more about what kind of goes into the hitting side of things because God knows I can't hit.
I think it would be hard for me to speak on to that, but all I know is when that ball left his bat, I was sprinting to see if it was going to stay fair and was having a lot of fun watching him play this entire second half really. He's a great teammate. He's always there for the guys, having fun, keeping things loose, and really excited to have him.
Q. Quinn, coming up here as a kid growing up, were there any family traditions or a spot in the ballpark that you guys always sat? Anything that always entailed a trip to Wrigley?
QUINN PRIESTER: No. So growing up, my grandma Judy and my grandpa Paul would always take me and my sister Maddie to a game, one a year usually. I remember one year, it was the Phillies, we always tried to go to a Braves game because my grandpa was a big Braves fan.
There is a fun story, but the traditions I remember was that, going to games, and then my grandfather and I would crack peanuts and try to sneak them on to each other's hats. If I could get it to balance on his head without him noticing and he would do the same to me, it was just a really fun back and forth. I would always eat as many hot dogs as I could and always flagging down the vendors.
Then yeah, I remember my grandpa loved beers and IPAs. So he'd always, beer here, beer here. So I'd always remember that coming to the ballpark.
But yeah, really great memories, and then obviously as I got older, coming to games with my mom, my sister was always, always fun and watching the teams here was always a blast and definitely created a lot of my love for the sport.
Q. A lot of pitchers, players in general use the mental skills, departments that are available to them. How do you calm the nerves and stay ready at the same time, and do you use people or persons to help you get there?
QUINN PRIESTER: Yeah. Back in -- it might have been last year, in '24 it was, kind of midway through the year, again, things not going the way I wanted to, and that was when I started to -- that's when I had reached out to a mental skills coach or psychologist, whatever you want to -- I don't even know what the correct title is.
Sports psychologist, so to speak. We started talking weekly, and it became something that I really enjoyed, and some of the things that we work on is just breath work, really being able to breathe and use that to help calm the nerves and anxieties and slow the game down when you're out there. I know a lot of guys talk about that, but it's really true.
Then also just somebody -- I'm biased, somebody maybe not a part of the organization so you don't feel like you're saying the wrong things, you can say everything you need to say, even if it's good, bad, anything in between. And I've found a lot of confidence in that, just being able to work through problems with somebody who's in my corner.
I definitely feel like that's helped me a ton this year. It definitely has helped me just be a lot more in the moment. Definitely a big change that we made that is a good one.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports