The Pittsburgh Pirates announced the Opening Day roster for the Altoona Curve on Monday morning. Here’s a look at the roster by positions. Note that not all of these players will be active on Opening Day, but this will be their placement once they return. The Altoona season opens on Thursday.
Pitchers
Bear Bellomy, Omar Cruz, Nick Dombkowski, Matt Eckelman, Oliver Garcia, Jared Jones, Cam Junker, Travis MacGregor, Justin Meis, Juan Minaya, Kyle Nicolas, Braeden Ogle, Tyler Samaniego, Aaron Shortridge, Sean Sullivan, Tahnaj Thomas, Noe Toribio
Jared Jones and Kyle Nicolas are the top prospects here. Both will be in the starting rotation. I received strong reports about Aaron Shortridge and Sean Sullivan from Spring Training, so they will be players to watch. Brad Case had a minor injury in Spring Training and should return here when healthy.
Catchers
Carter Bins, Henry Davis, Dylan Shockley
Henry Davis is the top prospect for Altoona, and some have him as the top prospect in the system. He’s in Altoona so Endy Rodriguez can catch full-time in Indianapolis, allowing both to see maximum playing time.
Infielders
Andres Alvarez, Claudio Finol, Jacob Gonzalez, Domingo Leyba, Drew Maggi, Mason Martin, Liover Peguero
Liover Peguero returns here as one of the top prospects in the system. If he does well early, I’d expect him to move up to Indianapolis. He’s easily the top prospect of this infield group, which has mostly older/experienced players. Francisco Acuna could play here once his suspension is over in June.
Outfielders
Matt Fraizer, Matt Gorski, Fabricio Macias, Josh Palacios, Lolo Sanchez, Connor Scott
This is basically the 2022 Altoona outfield, plus Josh Palacios. Matt Gorski missed time last year twice, yet still had an outstanding season with Altoona/Greensboro. He played one game with Indianapolis, but was injured in that game. He was only moved up to help make up for missed time. Andres Alvarez and Henry Davis could see outfield time as well.
