The Pittsburgh Pirates have another arm dealing with a setback, and this one involves a young pitcher they’ve been watching closely.
Triple-A Indianapolis put right-hander Khristian Curtis on the 7-day injured list on July 25 because of side discomfort, according to Aiden Stepansky of MLB.com. Curtis had just pitched two days earlier, taking the ball in Indianapolis’ 6-3 loss to Lehigh Valley, the Philadelphia Phillies’ affiliate, at home on July 24. He worked 3.2 innings, allowed three runs, and left in the eighth inning after the injury surfaced.
The Pirates are hoping the issue is brief, because Curtis has already shown enough to look like a possible option down the road in 2026.
His first taste of the majors came on July 18, when Pittsburgh used him in the second game of a doubleheader against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field. Working in bulk relief, Curtis was sharp from the start and finished with five scoreless innings, two hits allowed, two walks and four strikeouts across 68 pitches.
The outing wasn’t spotless. In the third inning, he gave up back-to-back singles, but he recovered with a groundout and a flyout to get out of the inning without damage. He also helped turn two double plays and kept the Pirates in position to win, with Pittsburgh leading 3-0 over six innings before the bullpen gave it away in a 5-3 loss on Travis Bazzana’s two-run walk-off homer.
Because Curtis was the 27th man, the Pirates sent him back to Indianapolis after that game. Still, the performance was strong enough to suggest he could get another shot in the majors.
Curtis is one of the more highly regarded arms in the Pirates’ system. Baseball America ranks him sixth in the organization, while MLB Pipeline has him 21st in its latest re-rankings.
His pitch mix includes five offerings: a cutter, four-seam fastball, changeup, curveball and slider. The four-seamer sits around 95-96 mph and can reach 97, while the cutter lives in the lower 90s. His slider and changeup come in the mid-80s, and the curveball works in the mid-high 70s.
Pittsburgh selected Curtis in the 12th round of the 2023 MLB Draft out of Arizona State. He spent 2024 with Single-A Bradenton and 2025 with High-A Greensboro before opening 2026 at Double-A Altoona. He moved up to Indianapolis on June 9.
Across 16 starts and 19 appearances in the minors this season, Curtis has gone 2-8 with a 5.08 ERA over 78.0 innings. He’s struck out 98 and walked 42, while holding opponents to a .232 batting average and posting a 1.40 WHIP.
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