Around the Curve | Curve in the Majors - Vol. 1

CURVE, PA. – Altoona has been a pipeline to the Major Leagues for nearly 26 years, with the current alumni count at 213 players achieving their dreams of becoming a big leaguer. This season, we want to look at some of the exciting accomplishments our alumni are achieving at the Major League level. Every week, we will spotlight a handful of players who are succeeding at the next level and reflect on their time with the Curve, here on the Around the Curve Blog! Here is the first edition of: “Curve in the Majors.”

1. INF/OF Cole Tucker – Los Angeles Angels

Season Stats: 8 games, .227 batting average, 2 doubles, 1 RBI, 3 SB

Most Curve fans will remember the smiling face of Cole Tucker, who won an Eastern League Championship with the Curve in 2017 and played a combined total of 175 games in Altoona from 2017-2018. Tucker, a former first-round pick by the Pirates in 2014, has bounced around organizations in the last few seasons after he was designated for assignment by the Pirates in 2022. Since his time in Pittsburgh, Tucker has played with the Arizona Diamondbacks, Colorado Rockies, Seattle Mariners, and Los Angeles Angels organizations.

Tucker signed a minor league contract with the Mariners in Spring Training but was released in March and was offered a position to become a coach. Instead, he signed with the Angels early in April and was recently promoted to the big-league roster in Anaheim. This past week, Tucker traveled back to Pittsburgh to play against the Pirates for the first time, where he was able to reunite with dozens of former teammates such as Mitch Keller, Ke’Bryan Hayes, and Bryan Reynolds.

2. RHP Osvaldo Bido – Oakland Athletics

Season Stats (Triple-A): 4-1, 2.59 ERA, 6 games (5 starts), 31.1 IP, 13 BB, 39 K

Osvaldo Bido was a member of Altoona’s starting rotation in 2021, where he made 19 starts and pitched to a 5.09 ERA with 91 strikeouts in 93.2 innings. Bido made his Major League debut on June 14, 2023 with the Pirates, going 2-5 with a 5.86 ERA in 16 games with nine starts. Bido elected free agency after the season and was signed by the Athletics in November, where he was sent to Triple-A Las Vegas. Bido was recalled by the Athletics on May 8 to make a start in game two of a doubleheader against the Texas Rangers, where he was opposed by Rangers RHP Jack Leiter. This season at Triple-A, his strikeout rate has been higher than it ever has in his career at 30%, or 11.20 K/9 innings. He was named the Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the Week for April 29 – May 5.

3. OF Andrew McCutchen – Pittsburgh Pirates

Season Stats: .184, 28 games, 3 doubles, 3 HR, 7 RBI

Okay, it’s hard to have an alumni report without including Altoona’s most popular alum. On April 14, in the ninth inning of an afternoon game at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, Andrew McCutchen drove a slider into the left-field seats for his first home run of the season. It was the 300^th of his storied career.

McCutchen became the fourth player to hit his 300^th home run in a Pirates uniform, joining Ralph Kiner (1953), Willie Stargell (1973), and Jeromy Burnitz (2006). It was his 216^th home run as a Pirate, leaving him 24 shy of catching Roberto Clemente for third-most in franchise history.

McCutchen played 138 games for the Curve from 2006-2007, and to this day he is still the youngest player to take the field for Altoona, making his Double-A debut on August 15, 2006 at 19 years, 10 months, and five days old. The 11^th overall pick in the 2005 MLB Draft played in the final 20 games of the 2006 season en route to being named the Pirates Minor League Player of the Year. When he returned in 2007, he was the Pirates No. 1 prospect per Baseball America, but his numbers cooled off. He finished his Curve tenure with a .265 batting average, 13 home runs and 60 RBIs in 138 games.

4. RHP Clay Holmes – New York Yankees

Season Stats: 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 16 games, 16.1 IP, 1 BB, 18 K, 11 Saves

Clay Holmes made his Major League debut with the Pirates in April of 2018, spending four seasons with Pittsburgh before being traded to the New York Yankees in 2021. This season, Holmes has shown himself to be one of the best closers in baseball. The right-handed reliever has converted 11 of 12 saves for the Yankees, tied for the second-most in the Major Leagues. Perhaps more impressive is that he has not allowed an earned run in 16 appearances and has only walked one batter with 18 strikeouts.

Holmes pitched for the Curve primarily in 2016 where he was used as a starter, making 26 starts and finishing the season 10-9 with a 4.22 ERA in 136.1 IP. He returned to Altoona on rehab in 2019, throwing in two games in relief.

5. RHP Gerrit Cole – New York Yankees

Season Stats: Has not Pitched.

Gerrit Cole rivals McCutchen for the most notable Curve alum in recent years, and rightfully so. The former Pirates No. 1 overall draft selection in 2011 is a six-time All-Star and the reining AL Cy Young Award winner.

However, this season Cole has yet to take the mound after dealing with elbow inflammation at Spring Training. He was placed on the 60-Day IL with fears of Tommy John Surgery in his future, but the most recent news has been promising.

Cole has begun throwing lightly once again, and New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone has said that everything has gone well so far. There is still some way to go, but it seems that there is a chance a healthy Cole will take the mound later this summer for the Yankees.

Cole pitched for the Curve in 2012, making 12 starts with a 3-6 record and a 2.90 ERA in 59.0 IP.

Other Notes:

• Paul Skenes has continued his dominant ways in Triple-A Indianapolis this season, striking out 45 batters in 27.1 innings across his first seven starts. Skenes has a 0.99 ERA with only three earned runs allowed and will make his Major League debut with the Pirates on Saturday.
• Nick Gonzales is having statistically his best season in the Minor Leagues, hitting .358 through 30 games with Triple-A Indianapolis with 14 doubles, two triples, four home runs and 19 RBI. Gonzales made his Major League debut last summer and may hit his way back onto the Pirates roster very soon.
• The American Association begins play this week, one of many independent ball leagues. INF Josh Bissonette, who was released by the Pirates in Spring Training, is on the Kansas City Monarchs roster, along with former Triple-A teammate Travis Swaggerty. RHP Tahnaj Thomas will also start his season in the American Association with the Milwaukee Milkmen.

Stay tuned all season long for more exciting content on the Around the Curve Blog!