Athlete Of The Week: JT Quinn

CHATHAM – JT Quinn didn’t expect to throw a complete game when he stepped onto the mound last Saturday against the Brewster Whitecaps.

But with fog shrouding Veterans Field, the umpires suspended play in the bottom of the fifth. Soon after, as the opaque coastal mist refused to dissipate during the 30-minute delay, they called the game entirely. 

Quinn had thrown five innings of one-run ball, and that was the game. The Anglers won 2-1. 

“I could tell pretty early my stuff was there, and it just felt like it was coming out and just kept commanding it,” Quinn said.

A Georgia right-hander, Quinn was perfect through four innings and then ran into trouble in the fifth but escaped the jam. He finished with nine strikeouts, allowing one earned run on three hits and no walks.

“He just was attacking the strike zone with multiple pitches, and his stuff is elite,” manager Dennis Cook said. 

It was the third of three starts Quinn will make on the Cape this season, his first win of the bunch despite a 2.57 ERA. All told, he struck out 25 and walked two in 14 innings, pitching to a 0.929 WHIP, 16.1 strikeouts per nine innings, a 12.50 strikeout-to-walk ratio. 

“His stuff is incredible,” Chatham pitching coach Jay Powell said. “We’ve seen it now three starts. I mean, he is electric. He’s got a great fastball. He’s got two really good breaking balls.”

Quinn is eligible for the MLB draft later this July. He’s listed as a top 150 prospect, according to a list ranked by MLB Pipeline, the league’s branch of draft and prospect coverage.

Powell, himself a former major leaguer, said Quinn “has everything you need” in terms of a college arm that can translate into good professional pitchers.

“I think he’s done himself a lot of good by coming up here,” he said.