Pirates Invite Pitching Prospect to Spring Training
In this story:
PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates have given a big opportunity to one of their better pitchers in the farm system.
The Pirates announced that they have made right-handed pitcher Khristian Curtis a non-roster invitee to Major League Camp at Spring Training. Curtis will report to Pirate City in Bradenton, Fla. on Feb. 11 and work with the best pitchers in the organization.
It's a big step for Curtis, who only made Double-A at the end of last season, and now gets a chance to show what he has amongst his peers on the Pirates.
The Pirates also get a better look at a promising pitching prospect, that is finally healthy and had a strong showing in 2025.
What the Pirates Get in Khristian Curtis
Curtis is an imposing figure on the mound, standing 6-foot-5 and 210 pounds, and has served as a starting pitcher since joining the Pirates.
He employs four pitches, a four-seam fastball, cutter, changeup and a curveball, pretty standard for a young prospect with a good mix of speed and offspeed.
His fastball is the pitch that is his best, featuring around the mid 90s, 94-96 mph, while his cutter is a solid secondary pitch. His curveball has received good reviews and a changeup is never a bad pitch to have in one's arsenal.
Curtis has gone deep into outings in his professional career, pitching at least six innings four times and pitching at least five innings seven times.
He turns 24 years old in May, so if he continues his progression, he should continue moving up the minor leagues and make the Pirates roster at some point in 2027 or 2028.
Khristian Curtis Background
The Pirates took Curtis in the 12th round of the 2023 MLB Draft out of Arizona State, but there was a time when he may not have had the chance to pitch professionally, according to an interview he did with Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com.
Curtis missed his entire freshman season at Texas A&M after having ulnar transposition surgery, which focuses on repairing the elbow and moving the nerve, allowing for pitchers to throw without damaging it further.
The issue with Curtis's surgery was that his stitches were still on his nerve when he returned to the mound in 2022, continuously fraying his nerve on every pitch.
Curtis underwent a second surgery, which may have ended his playing career, but came back and pitched for Arizona State in 2023, earning his draft selection.
He spent all of 2024 with Single-A Bradenton, struggling early on with a 5.29 ERA at the end of May, but finishing the season with a 4.06 ERA over 110.2 innings pitched.
Curtis, who missed more than a month on the injured list that season, finished with a 2-3 record in 16 starts and 18 appearances, 81 strikeouts to 39 walks, a .227 batting average allowed and a 1.34 WHIP.
His 2025 season saw him struggle again early on with High-A Greensboro, with an 11.48 ERA in April, mostly thanks to giving up seven earned runs over 0.1 innings pitched in his second start.
Curtis bounced back the rest of the campaign, posting an 8-3 record, with a 2.87 ERA over 97.1 innings pitched and 97 strikeouts.
He helped Greensboro throw a perfect game in the 2-0 win over the Aberdeen Ironbirds on July 4, as he pitched six scoreless innings and posted 10 strikeouts.
Curtis eventually earned promotion to Altoona after the High-A season and threw two scoreless innings in the regular season finale on Sept. 14 vs. the Erie Seawolves.
The Athletic ranks Curts as the Pirates 12th best prospect and Baseball America has him at 16th, while MLB Pipeline doesn't have him on at all.
Dominic writes for Pittsburgh Pirates On SI, Pittsburgh Panthers Pn SI and also, Pittsburgh Steelers On SI. A Pittsburgh native, Dominic grew up watching Pittsburgh Sports and wrote for The Pitt News as an undergraduate at the University of Pittsburgh, covering Pitt Athletics. He would write for Pittsburgh Sports Now after college and has years of experience covering sports across Pittsburgh.