3 late-round picks from the Pirates' 2023 draft class coming off promising seasons

The Pittsburgh Pirates’ 2023 draft class could be one that carries the franchise for a while. Paul Skenes is doing most of the lifting right now, but Mitch Jebb is coming off a encouraging season, as are Zander Mueth and Carlson Reed. They also traded four players from this draft class for four players who are currently in the Major Leagues.

Skenes, Jebb, Mueth, and Reed are three players from the Pirates’ ‘23 class that get talked about the most (especially Skenes, as he awaits some offseason hardware), but the Buccos also made some later-round picks that put up promising performances in 2024. Each player listed here was taken after the 10th round, but is coming off a quality season that deserves recognition.

3 late-round picks from the Pirates' 2023 draft class coming off promising seasons

Khristian Curtis

The Pirates potentially got a steal in the 2023 draft when they took right-hander Khristian Curtis in the 12th round out of Arizona State. Although Curtis was taken so late (347th overall pick), he was ranked fairly high by draft rankings. MLB Pipeline had him as a top 200 draft prospect, coming in at 197th, but Baseball America had him even higher, at an impressive 126.

Curtis got a look against pro batters this year, and his numbers on the season were solid, albeit unimpressive. He put up a 4.06 ERA, 4.84 FIP, and 1.34 WHIP in 75.1 IP. Curtis struck out just over a quarter of his batters faced, clocking in with a 25.4% K% with a roughly league average 12.2% walk rate. Unfortunately, he was home run prone, with a 1.16 HR/9 rate. He had some good peripherals under the hood, including a whiff rate over 30% at 31.7%, and induced an 87.2 MPH exit velocity.

Most of Curtis’ struggles this season were early into the year, though. From the start of June through the end of the season, Curtis had a much stronger 3.14 ERA, 3.42 FIP, and 1.21 WHIP. He was much better at limiting walks, with a 10.2% BB%, and struck out batters more frequently, logging a 26% K%. Curtis was also much less home run prone, with an 0.42 HR/9, 86.4 MPH average exit velocity, and a microscopic 2.4% barrel rate. Batters swung and missed at his offerings nearly a third of the time. It is worth noting that Curtis did miss July, and pitched 43 frames from the start of June through his final game, making this a small, yet promising sample.

Curtis has both solid stuff and a varied arsenal. His four-seamer rides through the zone very well with only 12.8 inches of vertical break, along with 8.8 inches of arm-side run. The offering also has some impressive velocity, sitting around 95 MPH and topping out at 98 this season. Curtis also has a two-seam variant of his fastball. He can throw this pitch slightly harder, topping out closer to 99, and while it has less drop, it has a lot more horizontal movement with 13.6 inches of break. 

Curtis’ go-to breaking ball is a mid-80s slider that averages out with nearly 40 inches of drop and 4.5 inches of break. He also has a second breaking ball, an upper-70s curve with 51 inches of drop/seven inches of break. Curtis’ cutter is a low-90s pitch with only 1.5 inches of break, but around 25 inches of drop. Lastly, there’s his mid-80s changeup that can average out with over 17 inches of horizontal movement. Curtis used each of his pitches at least 5% of the time last year.

Curtis’ wide variety of pitches could keep him in a starting role long-term. He does need to sharpen up his control, however. Worst-case scenario is that he gets moved to the bullpen, where some of his shortcomings with his command can be hidden while his stuff can play up. He’ll be put to the test next year at Greensboro, but his strong finish to 2024 and his packed arsenal will definitely make him a name to watch next season.

Curtis is already ranked as the Pirates’ 27th-best prospect by MLB Pipeline, and he could further climb the rankings with another promising year in 2025.