Pittsburgh Pirates’ rookie flamethrower Wilber Dotel is in the midst of what looks like an extremely promising rookie season. He has allowed just a single earned run through his first 16.2 MLB innings, while striking out 27.9% of opponents with a respectable 8.2% walk rate. Dotel has allowed just one home run while keeping batters to a microscopic 2.6% barrel rate.
However, Dotel’s season did not come out of nowhere. He entered 2026 as one of their better pitching prospects. This is becoming a trend for the Bucs: once-noteworthy prospects start their MLB careers out in the Pirates’ bullpen, only to move to the rotation later on, and are successful in both roles. This year it’s Dotel; last year it was Braxton Ashcraft; and in 2024 it was Luis Ortiz. The thing is, the Pirates already have another pitcher lined up to take a similar path to MLB in 2026: Khristian Curtis.
Curtis broke out in 2025 and is now one of the Pirates’ better pitching prospects. He is posting a solid 4.73 ERA, 4.38 FIP, and 1.28 WHIP over his first 53.1 innings of the season, all of which have come at Double-A Altoona thus far. Curtis has struck out nearly 30% of opponents, with a 29.1% K%. That is a tick up from 2025, when he had a 25.1% K%. The right-hander’s 10.9% walk rate also sits around league average. Curtis is allowing far less contact, going from a 71.1% contact percentage in 2025 to only 67.4% this year.
Both Dotel and Curtis have other similarities besides being noteworthy pitching prospects in the Pirates’ farm system. Both are hard-throwing righties. Dotel sat in the upper-90s as a starter in the minor leagues. Curtis also sits around the mid-to-upper 90s. Both have a fastball that Baseball America projects as plus. Both also have a similar pitch mix. Dotel has thrown a fastball, slider, cutter, and change-up in the Major Leagues thus far. Curtis uses the same four offerings, as well as a curveball.
Curtis arguably has just as good, if not a better chance than Dotel at becoming a starter. Curtis not only has a wider variety of pitches but also more above-average offerings. The only pitch in his arsenal that Baseball America does not project as an above-average pitch is his curveball, which still projects as average. BA only sees Dote’s fastball and slider as above-average offerings.
Curtis is also close to making his MLB debut. The Pirates just recently promoted the right-hander to Triple-A Indianapolis. He will also become Rule 5 draft eligible this winter, so barring anything catastrophic, he’ll certainly earn a 40-man roster spot. Unless Curtis has a phenomenal time at Triple-A and forces the Pirates’ hand to promote him later this year, he is well on pace to become the sort of pitcher Wilber Dotel is serving as this year, as well as his predecessors in Braxton Ashcraft and Luis Ortiz.
