Pittsburgh Pirates Minor League Check In: The Altoona Curve

Major League Baseball is not the only baseball that has arrived in 2024. Minor league baseball has kicked off its campaign and Draft Nation will take a look at each affiliate in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization. Today, the Altoona Curve are on deck, the Pirates AA team that plays as part of the Eastern League. More information on each of these prospects can be found in the 2024 Pittsburgh Pirates Minor League Guide.

Pitchers

Braxton Ashcraft- L/R- 2nd round pick (2018)   #10 prospect

Brad Case- R/R- 17th round pick (2018)

Bubba Chandler- S/R- 3rd round pick (2021)   #3 prospect

Po-Yu Chen- L/R- FA signing (2020)  #24 prospect

Nick Dombkowski- R/L- Signed as a non-drafted FA (2021)

Grant Ford- R/R- 5th round pick (2019)

Chris Gau- L/R- 14th round pick (2018)

Cameron Junker- R/R- 10th round pick (2019)

Valentin Linarez- R/R- FA signing (2018)

Isaac Mattson- R/R- 19th round pick (2017)

Justin Meis- R/R- 10th round pick (2021)

Tyler Samaniego- R/L- 15th round pick (2021)   #42 prospect

Anthony Solometo- L/L- 2nd round pick (2021)   #5 prospect

Sean Sullivan- R/R- 8th round pick (2021)   #35 prospect

Eddy Yean- R/R- FA signing (2017)

Catchers

Abraham Gutierrez- R/R- FA signing (2016)  #50 prospect

Wyatt Hendrie- R/R- 7th round pick (2021)

Dylan Shockley- R/R- 34th round pick (2019)

Infielders

3B- Francisco Acuna- R/R- FA signing (2016)

1B- Seth Beer- L/L- 1st round pick (28th overall- 2018)

SS- Tsung-Che Cheng- L/R- FA signing (2019)   #17 prospect

3B- Brenden Dixon- R/R- 20th round pick (2021)

3B- Jackson Glenn- R/R- 5th round pick (2021)

2B- Mike Jarvis- R/R- 6th round pick (2021)

1B- Aaron Shackelford- L/R- 14th round (2019)

Outfielders

Jase Bowen- R/R- 11th round pick (2019)    #23 prospect

Matt Fraizer- L/R- 3rd round pick (2019)

Tres Gonzalez- L/L- 5th round pick (2022)    #26 prospect

Connor Scott- L/L- 1st round pick (13th overall-2018)

What to Look For

The Altoona Curve has a fantastic pitching staff led by two of the top five prospects in the organization—Bubba Chandler (3) and Anthony Solometo (5). Chandler has skyrocketed through the organization since being selected and coaxed out of playing football for Clemson. He throws consistently in the mid-90’s and has hit 99 mph on the radar gun. With growth potential in his frame he could become a top of the rotation type starter. He started one game last season for Altoona and should spend most of the 2024 season there with a possible promotion to Indianapolis later in the year if all goes as planned. He will only turn 22 during the latter stages of the campaign and could be in Pittsburgh by 2025. 

Anthony Solometo is a unique left-handed pitcher who throws from different arm angles and reminds scouts of Madison Bumgarner who dominated the league for years. Solometo, like Chandler is young and improving but will need more time in the farm system before reaching for the Majors.

Besides those two high-end prospects the Curve also have rising pitchers Braxton Ashcraft, Po-Yu Chen, Sean Sullivan, and Tyler Samaniego who rank #10, 24, 35, and 42 respectively.

Overall, the Pittsburgh Pirates lack a lot of depth in the outfield but the Curve have two of the better prospects on their roster. Jase Bowen and Tres Gonzalez (23,26) are both looking to have big seasons and hope to climb onto the radar of the big club. 

Altoona also has Abraham Gutierrez (50) who is a defensive catcher that projects as a possible backup with a limited bat down the line. Shortstop Tsung-Che Cheng (17) is a name that gets overlooked a lot in the Pirates organization because of the glut of middle infield depth the team has. Cheng is a pure hitter who has a simple approach and constantly puts the ball in play. He plays above average defense and could be the reason you see Nick Gonzalez or another middle infielder get dealt in 2024.