Pirates Reveal Initial Player List for 2022 Curve
CURVE, PA – The Pittsburgh Pirates and the Altoona Curve are pleased to announce the initial player list for the 2022 Curve. The initial player list features 31 players and is not to be interpreted as an Opening Day roster. An additional announcement with a finalized roster for Opening Day
CURVE, PA – The Pittsburgh Pirates and the Altoona Curve are pleased to announce the initial player list for the 2022 Curve. The initial player list features 31 players and is not to be interpreted as an Opening Day roster. An additional announcement with a finalized roster for Opening Day will be made later.
The Curve will host several top prospects in the Pirates organization including many core contributors to the 2021 Greensboro Grasshoppers team that reached the High-A East Championship Series and went 74-46 under Manager Kieran Mattison, accumulating the third-most wins in all of High-A.
To view the full list of players reporting to Altoona, click here.
The roster features four of the top-10 prospects in the Pirates organization according to MLB.com including the No. 1 prospect in the organization, infielder Nick Gonzales, the No. 4 prospect in the organization right-hander Quinn Priester, the No. 6 prospect shortstop Liover Peguero and the No. 10 prospect outfielder Matt Fraizer. Gonzales (No. 20), Priester (No. 54) and Peguero (No. 79) each rank among the top-100 in all of minor league baseball according to MLB.com.
Fraizer joins six other players who suited up for the Curve in 2021 including LHP Omar Cruz, RHP Noe Toribio, RHP Travis MacGregor, C Carter Bins, OF Daniel Amaral, and OF Jack Suwinski.
The pitching staff features several outstanding young arms including RHP Michael Burrows, RHP Carmen Mlodzinski, RHP Tahnaj Thomas, and RHP JC Flowers. Rounding out the pitching staff are several standouts from the 2021 Grasshoppers bullpen including RHP Bear Bellomy, RHP Oliver Garcia, RHP Enmanuel Mejia, RHP Luis Ortiz, RHP Austin Roberts, and RHP Colin Selby. Mejia took home the Pirates organization’s Kent Tekulve Minor League Reliever-of-the-Year honors last season after posting a combined 0.42 ERA (42.2ip/2er) in 32 relief appearances between Bradenton and Greensboro. Since making his professional debut in 2019, Mejia has recorded a 0.85 ERA (63.1ip/6er) in 50 relief appearances, which is the second-lowest in all of Minor League Baseball among relievers with at least 60.0 innings of work in that time behind Blue Jays farmhand Jackson Reese (0.84 ERA in 64.1 innings).
Also slated to join the Curve pitching staff are two newcomers to the organization: RHP Kyle Nicolas and LHP Zach Matson. Nicolas joins the Curve after being acquired from the Miami Marlins in the Jacob Stallings trade in November of 2021. Matson spent the 2021 season as a member of the Hartford Yard Goats (Colorado Rockies) bullpen.
Joining Gonzales and Peguero on the infield are INF Andres Alvarez, INF Aaron Shackelford, INF Jared Triolo, INF Will Matthiessen and INF Tucupita Marcano. Triolo took home the Rawlings Minor League Gold Glove Award for third basemen in 2021. It marked the fourth straight minor league season that a Pirates third baseman took home the award (Ke’Bryan Hayes did so from 2017-19). Triolo enters this season rated by Baseball America as the “Best Defensive Infielder” in the Pirates minor league system. Marcano, acquired in the Adam Frazier trade with San Diego in July of 2021, played 25 games with the Padres a season ago and took the field with Triple-A Indianapolis after being acquired by the Pirates. 2022 will be his first experience at Double-A.
In the outfield, the Curve will feature an intriguing combination of power and speed between the returners of Fraizer, Suwinski and Amaral. Joining them for their Double-A debut in 2022 are OF, OF Lolo Sanchez and OF Blake Sabol. Rounding out the group is another newcomer to the organization, OF Connor Scott who was acquired by the Pirates, along with teammate Kyle Nicolas, from the Miami Marlins in the Jacob Stallings trade in November of 2021.
Between Nick Gonzales (7th overall, 2020), Quinn Priester (18th overall, 2019) and Connor Scott (13th overall, 2018 by Miami), the Curve roster projects to feature three top-18 draft choices on the Opening Day roster for the first time in franchise history.
The Curve are slated to begin the 2022 season at Peoples Natural Gas Field on Friday, April 8 against the Harrisburg Senators (Washington Nationals) at 6:00 p.m. For tickets or more information about Curve Baseball, visit AltoonaCurve.com, call 877.99.CURVE or stop by the PNG Field box office. Additionally, the Stockyard Team Store is open Monday-Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., during every home game and online 24/7/365.