A second minor-league affiliate of the Pirates has wrapped up its 2026 season. The Double-A Altoona Curve were defeated 11-7 by Akron on Sunday to finish the year with an overall record of 61-77.
Several prospects had strong showings with Altoona this year. Third baseman Murf Gray worked his way to Double-A and totaled 45 games for the Curve. He slashed .258/.395/.484 with eight doubles, nine home runs and 27 RBI after being promoted.
First baseman Callan Moss finished fifth in the league with 26 doubles, 11th with a .266 batting average and 13th with 64 RBI.
But the top hitting prospect for the Curve belongs to a player who had a strong comeback season. And the choice for top pitcher is obvious, despite only spending have the year in Altoona.
The Pirates used their second-round pick in the 2021 draft on Lonnie White Jr. It took them $1.5 million to pry him away from playing both baseball and football at Penn State.
The upside with White has always been high, but injuries have largely stalled his career. In addition to spending a lot of time sidelined, White had back-to-back subpar seasons with High-A Greensboro in the hitter-friendly South Atlantic League from 2024-25.
But the 23-year-old is back on the map after what he showed with Altoona this season. White got off to a fast start with Greensboro and was promoted to Double-A at the end of April. He went on to play in 91 games for the Curve and slashed .262/.366/.500 with 16 doubles, two triples, 19 home runs, 48 RBI and 12 stolen bases.
White finished the year ranked fourth in the Eastern League in on-base percentage and OPS (.866) and ninth in slugging.
Connor Wietgrefe is finishing the year with Triple-A Indianapolis after receiving a promotion on June 26, but it was a strong first-half of the season with Altoona.
Wietgrefe, a seventh-round pick from the University of Minnesota in 2024, made 14 appearances/13 starts with the Curve this season and went 4-1 with a 3.51 ERA. In 66.2 innings, he allowed 26 earned runs on 60 hits with 25 walks and 69 strikeouts.
The 24-year-old was named the Eastern League Pitcher of the Month for June after finishing his time with Altoona with 18.0 consecutive scoreless innings pitched. At the time of his promotion to Indianapolis, Wietgrefe led the Curve in both ERA and strikeouts.
Pitching woes plagued the Curve this season. The team finished with a league-worst 5.27 ERA. But Wietgrefe seemed to be immune to those struggles.
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