Around the Curve | Curve in the Majors - 2026 Vol. 1
CURVE, Pa. – Three Curve alums made their MLB debuts in the first few weeks of the 2026 season, bringing the total number of Altoona alumni to appear in the majors to 228. Here’s a look at what some of our alumni have done in the majors through the first
CURVE, Pa. – Three Curve alums made their MLB debuts in the first few weeks of the 2026 season, bringing the total number of Altoona alumni to appear in the majors to 228. Here’s a look at what some of our alumni have done in the majors through the first two weeks of the 2026 season.
Major League Baseball’s No. 1 Prospect and 2025 Curve alum Konnor Griffin made his MLB debut on April 3 at PNC Park, making an emphatic statement in his first at-bat with an RBI double that brought all 38,986 in attendance to their feet.
Griffin was the first teenage player to debut in the majors since Juan Soto in 2018. The star shortstop was the first Pirate to reach base twice in their debut since 1952. Griffin inked a nine-year extension with the Pirates reportedly worth $140 million.
In his 21 games with the Curve at the end of the 2025 season, Griffin slashed a line of .337/.418/.542 as Altoona went to the postseason for the first time since 2018. Through his first 16 Major League games, Griffin is hitting .218 with three extra-base hits and eight RBI.
The four-year Curve alum made his MLB debut for the Red Sox on April 8. He appeared in three games for Boston and worked through 3.2 hitless and scoreless innings, racking up four strikeouts.
In his debut against Milwaukee, Samaniego struck out the side as he tossed a scoreless eighth inning. The lefty spent time in Altoona from 2022-2025, appearing in 98 games for the Curve.
After starting 27 games in 2025 for the Curve and three starts in Triple-A with Indianapolis to begin the year, Dotel made his MLB debut on April 19 with the Pirates.
Dotel tossed a one-run ninth inning to complete a 6-3 win for the Pirates over the Rays. He struck out Jonathan Aranda for his first career strikeout and retired Cedric Mullins for the final out of the game.
He spent five seasons in the minor leagues from 2021-2025. Dotel was the Eastern League Pitcher of the Week in late August of last season for the Curve, a season where he struck out 131 batters in 125.2 innings.
The 2025 NL Cy Young Award winner and 2023 Curve alum Paul Skenes has found his rhythm in April.
Skenes recorded his 400th career strikeout in his start on April 13 against the Nationals. He is the fifth-fastest player in major league history to reach that mark, doing so in just 59 career starts in the big leagues. The righty has allowed only three earned runs in his four April starts across 21.1 innings of work. Skenes has fanned 22 batters and walked five in April.
In 2023, Skenes made two starts with the Curve. His Double-A debut brought in a record-attendance of 10,164 fans to People’s Natural Gas Field.
The sixth-year Pirate has kicked off his 2026 season with a bang. Cruz has homered six times to begin the campaign.
His previous season-high is 21 home runs, which came in 2024, a year in which he averaged a home run in every seven games. His 2026 22-game pace is one homer every 3.7 games.
Cruz made appearances in 99 games with Altoona across three different seasons, including a two-game rehab assignment last season.
Mears is off to a solid start in 2026 with the Royals as he has allowed three earned runs in his seven total relief appearances, good for a 3.52 ERA. The right-handed reliever is in his seventh season in the majors with his fourth different team after being moved by Milwaukee this offseason.
Mears made a brief stop in Altoona back in 2019, tossing five innings in four games out of the pen. He went on to pitch for the Pirates from 2020 to 2022.
Stay tuned all season long for more exciting content on the Around the Curve Blog!