Around the Curve | Curtis Capitalizes on Big Fastball to Reach Double-A Altoona

By Jon Mozes

June 3, 2026

Coming out of spring training in 2025, Pirates right-hander Khristian Curtis emerged as one of the most projectable arms in the minor league system. A 12th round draft selection by the Pirates in 2023, Curtis was finally healthy to begin the year and was excited to begin the journey through

“It was awful,” Curtis shared during spring training at LECOM Park in Bradenton, about the first month of his 2025 season. The numbers backed up his statement, 22 runs allowed across his first five starts of the season and an unseemly 11.48 ERA.

However, things turned as the calendar flipped to May with a pair of strong starts at Hub City and continued throughout the month, during which he allowed just 6 earned runs in five starts and recorded a 2.61 ERA.

“I learned to let go of what I can’t control. You never know what’s going to happen behind you in the field, nobody is trying to make an error behind you, but I was letting things like that dictate my mentality on the mound. I learned to flush things and let go of what happened,” Curtis shared about the turnaround in his season.

Curtis became one Greensboro’s most reliable arms in 2025, taking every turn in their rotation and turning in an 8-5 record and a 3.98 ERA with 116 strikeouts in 108.2 innings.

It gave the Pirates a glimpse of what they dreamed about with the Beaumont, Texas native. After a rocky college career that nearly ended as a sophomore as a result of a botched Tommy John surgery, Curtis could finally capitalize on his elite tools on the mound to build up his inning count to a typical starting load. Standing 6’5’’ with a trim 215 pound frame, Curtis has the prototypical size of a major league starting pitcher, and boasts a pair of excellent breaking balls, a high-90’s fastball, and an excellent cut-fastball.

It was the fastball that immediately jumped out when he made his Curve debut in the final week of the 2025 regular season. Curtis fired two scoreless innings in relief for the Curve on September 14 at Erie, just five days after dealing six strong innings in a tight 3-1 playoff loss for Greensboro. As Altoona reached the postseason, Curtis was the first man out of the bullpen following Antwone Kelly in Game Two of the Southwest Division Series, a 6-1 Altoona loss, and again fired two scoreless frames, working around a pair of walks.

“It was awesome,” Curtis said with a smile while reflecting on his playoff appearances for the Grasshoppers and Curve. “It was a first for me, I was sick as a dog in the Greensboro one, but battled through it. It just makes pitching more fun, when you're pitching with something on the line with so many people in the ballpark. It was really cool.”

It was those performances late in the season that gave Pittsburgh optimism about his ability to contribute to the major league club, and in turn, the Pirates invited him as a non-roster player to their major league spring training this year. An opportunity bestowed upon around 15-20 players per year that gives them exposure to the best players in the world and the chance to wear the uniform of the parent club.

To open the 2026 season, Curtis has had an up-and-down start. With an 0-4 record and a 5.33 ERA (15 ER / 25.1 IP) in six starts to begin the season, Curtis is taking his lumps to begin the season like he did at Greensboro last year. However, he still flashes the top end stuff that tantalizes the Pirates. In his Opening Day start against Harrisburg, nine strikeouts in 5.0 innings of 1-run ball. And on Sunday, April 26, he struck out ten in 5.0 innings to help the Curve to a 5-4 series win.

“That’s my goal for this year, make it to Pittsburgh and help these guys win,” Curtis shared during spring training. To get there? It’s all about being on the mound and trust. “It’s about trusting my stuff, that it’s good enough to play there and I’ve got to have that mentality that there’s nothing stopping me and trusting that I can do it.”