10 Observations: Khristian Curtis, Sammy Stafura defense, Brandan Bidois dominance
Looks from around the Pirates' system last week.
WTM 9/10: So, has Khristian Curtis joined Antwone Kelly and Wilber Dotel in the Pirates’ “second wave” of pitching prospects? After a terrible beginning, Curtis has had an impressive season. In five April starts, he had an 11.48 ERA and 2.55 WHIP. Opponents pummeled him for an OPS of 1.125. Since then, he’s had an ERA of 2.93 and a WHIP of 1.08. His worst monthly opponents’ OPS after April was .691. He cut his BB/9 from 4.8 last year to 3.7, and still had a 9.6 K/9. Importantly, he made 26 starts and put up 108.2 IP, an increase of 33 from 2024. Despite the Greensboro home run palace, he allowed 12 on the season, eight of them at home. Curtis should be in a much more pitcher-friendly environment at Altoona next year, so it’ll be interesting to see what he can do.
WTM 9/10: With two full-season affiliates now through with their regular seasons, we’re going to have to wait to see a few of the 2025 college draftees. (We never see the prep draftees in their draft year anymore.) The most prominent one missing is 73rd overall pick Murf Gray, a third baseman with legit power potential.
Since Justin Horowitz was hired to take over the team’s draft late in 2023, the Pirates have shown much more inclination to select bat-first college position players. You can argue about a few players one way or another, but here’s a list of guys I’d put in this category from Horowitz’s two drafts and the two previous drafts:
2025: Gray, Brent Iredale, Jared Jones, and Eddie King, Jr.
2024: Duce Gourson, Ian Farrow, Ethan Lege, and Andrew Patrick
2023: Garret Forrester* and Charles McAdoo
2022: Josiah Sightler and Nick Cimillo
*Forrester is a dubious inclusion here, as he was a corner infielder without much power, whom the Pirates planned to move to catcher.
As mid- to late-round picks, the odds are against most of these players succeeding. If the Pirates could get one to the majors from every draft or two, though, it’d be a big help. They don’t have to become Griffin-level prospects. The Pirates over the last six years have gotten horrific offensive performances from their bench, platoon types, and other role players. (Just check FanGraphs to see how many sub-replacement hitters the Pirates have employed year after year, for six years, compared to other teams.) Maybe a couple of these players can fill roles like that.
NolaJeffy 9/11: Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be for the Greensboro Grasshoppers. Including the regular season final series, the offense scored only 16 runs in eight games, with 10 coming in one of their two victories over that span. If there is one area that has some value, it's watching Sammy Stafura play shortstop.
Everything about Stafura at SS is so smooth. So much so, I don't think it'd be hyperbole to say he's the best defensive SS in the system. He made a play in the series deciding loss where he ranged to his right on a grounder, dove to field it, popped up, and gunned the runner at first still by a step or two. If the bat develops, the Pirates will have a nice problem on their hands of having to decide what to do with Konnor Griffin and Stafura.
Murphy 9/11: Hunter Barco’s last game of 2025 should be a relief appearance out of the major league bullpen, and I’m not sure anyone can convince me otherwise.
Not sure there is much left to do in the minors, and he’s Rule 5 eligible in the offseason, so he’s going to need to be on the 40-man roster anyway.
Murphy 9/11: Colin Holderman and Ji Hwan Bae still being on the 40-man roster still feels, rough. Might be able to make an argument for Bae solely because Billy Cook is on the IL, and there isn’t really anyone else interesting enough to carry on the 40-man roster during the offseason, but it seems like he is only getting worse.
Holderman, who has an ERA of over seven in the majors, is back with Indianapolis after getting optioned for Justin Lawrence.
With Brandan Bidois dominating the minors, that seems like so much more of an intriguing arm to give a shot in the majors, even more than Lawrence. Ryan Harbin, too, despite getting blown up the last couple of outings.
Murphy 9/13: While you want to push your players to try and get the best out of them, I’ve been curious about the Pirates’ usage of Nick Yorke since he’s come up. While he has gotten some time at second, most of his playing time has come as the platoon partner of Spencer Horwitz at first.
Which, whatever to get him in the lineup, BUT considering he’s always posted reverse-platoon splits (better against righties than lefties), and he didn’t play much first in the minors, it just seems odd.
Most of it is roster construction. Nick Gonzales at shortstop is less than ideal defensively, but it’s really the only way you can get Yorke off second right now.
It will be interesting to see how that shakes out in the offseason, as Gonzales is one of the lone Pirates’ hitters to flirt with the ‘league average’ mark when it comes to wRC+.
John 9/9 and 9/14: Brandan Bidois saw his streak of facing 64 consecutive batters without a hit end on Sunday. He then got the next guy to ground into a double play, followed by an inning-ending strikeout. He has the pitching arsenal of a starter, but it makes sense to have him in relief because he has had trouble staying healthy. Prior to the 2025 season, Bidois had pitched a total of 77 innings since signing in 2019, including fall and winter ball time. He's already pitched 58.2 innings this year. Not a high number under normal circumstances, but we are talking about someone who has averaged 15 innings per year since signing. He has a terrific fastball, which sits 95-97 MPH, while hitting 99 MPH in the past.
He mixes in a slider, curve, and changeup with success, which has been tough for hitters in these short outings. They're not expecting someone out of the bullpen using four quality pitches. Bidois looks like he is big league ready at this point. He could get a look as the season winds down, since he needs to be on the 40-man roster this offseason. The Pirates have been very high on him going far back into his time with the team, so it shouldn't be a surprise if they add him to the 40-man roster in September or by the time rosters need to be set.
John 9/9 and 9/14: Po-Yu Chen has had an odd season. He was doing decent early with Altoona, then got called up to Indianapolis for a spot start in late May. That went as well as you could hope, as he threw five shutout innings. He immediately went back to Double-A, where he went on an extended tailspin. He was eventually moved to the bullpen before returning to the rotation. He has pitched better as of late, and then had a solid two-start week this past week. Chen allowed two runs over five innings for Altoona on Tuesday, then tossed 3.2 scoreless for Indianapolis, while working on a limited pitch count due to making two starts in the same week. He has now thrown 8.2 scoreless innings at Triple-A, where he should make one more start before the season ends.
The 23-year-old Chen has thrown a tick harder in the past, which would help him out some, but he also needs better control. He wasn't wild on Sunday when he barely threw more than 50% of his pitches for strikes. Quite a few pitches just missed the zone, looking like borderline strikes. His sinker was 89-92 MPH (topped at 93.4 MPH), while his 83-85 MPH changeup was easily his best pitch. He used it often with success. The sinker had mixed results, as it often missed low, but he got a few soft hit grounders off of it. He didn't mix in many breaking pitches, though he froze a batter for a strikeout with a terrific curve. If he can get 2-3 MPH back on the fastball, while improving his control just a bit, there's big league potential.
Murphy 9/14: Is Duce Gourson forcing himself into relevance as an actual prospect? The guy is absolutely raking, batting around .350 over the past TWO MONTHS.
He’s making solid and consistent contact and flashing more pop than you’d expect. Gourson will never be a huge power guy, but that doesn’t mean it’s way below average. During the last week of the regular season, Gourson went 10-24 (.416) with four doubles and a home run.
There is more defensive versatility than it may initially appear, given that he receives a lot of reps at first.
Murphy 9/14: Khristian Curtis was electric in his Double-A debut, striking out three and going six-up-six-down. He needed 24 pitches, 15 of which were for strikes.
He ran the fastball up to 97 mph, which he got Kevin McGonigle—one of the top two prospects in all of baseball—to swing and miss at for a strikeout to end his first inning of work.
It was a masterful display, well, as much of one as you can over two innings. The arrow is pointing straight up for Curtis at this point.
Pittsburgh Pirates 2025 draft class final update
With the lower-level seasons over, it seems like a good time to take one final look at how the 2025 draft picks who made their debuts performed in the limited playing time they received.
They’re obviously not putting Yorke in the best position to succeed. Even a FO as incompetent as theirs can’t be unaware of his persistent reverse split. They’re just making a pretense of acting like that trade wasn’t another Cherington failure without really having any interest in Yorke. He’ll be back in AAA next year.
Not a lot said about him other than a mention, but Wilbur Dotel has 27 starts at AA, 125 IP, more K's than IP, and a 4.15 ERA. Perfect build for a SP at 6'3" 178, and he was also an innings-eater in GBO last year. Heading into AAA next year, joining Ashcraft, Barco, etc.