Milwaukee right-hander Quinn Priester will have surgery Monday, ending his 2026 season after a rough rehab stint.
After the Milwaukee Brewers enjoyed a breakout campaign by righty Quinn Priester that was crucial in helping the National League Championship Series, they won’t see him throw a pitch in 2026. The team announced that Priester will undergo thoracic outlet decompression surgery on Monday that will be season ending.
The procedure will include removing his first upper right rib with a recovery timeline of 8-10 months, which will place Priester back to compete for a rotation spot in next year’s spring training.
It’s a major blow after he went 13-3 last season with a 3.32 ERA.
The disorder he has is called thoracic outlet syndrome, which is caused by the compression of blood vessels or nerves between the collarbone and first rib, and can cause neck/shoulder pain, finger numbness or tingling, and arm weakness.
Milwaukee recalled Priester back up from minor league rehab on June 12, and their evaluation was as thorough as possible before the sides opted for the season-ending surgery. That included the use of nerve blocks, which alleviated the pain, but didn’t fix the mechanics issues.
To read more about the massive blow for Milwaukee, here is the full story from Brewers Roundtable writer Anthony Arroyo.
Through five rehab games, Priester only could manage a 15.75 ERA in 16 innings pitched. A comparable situation was Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler, who make a quicker than expected return from a similar procedure. But it alters the makeup of Milwaukee’s rotation this season, as he was meant to be a significant component of it.
Jacob Misiorowski and Kyle Harrison have anchored it in Priester’s absence through this year’s campaign, and that’ll have to continue for the impending future.
