By Garett MansfieldAltoonaCurve.com The annual deadline to protect prospects from the Rule 5 draft with a promotion to the 40-man roster was on Friday, November 20. While this is a yearly practice for Major League teams to secure young talent they’ve invested in, it is all but ordinary in 2020. Usually, the Curve see recent players … More Pirates protect Kranick, Castro from Rule 5 Draft
By Garett MansfieldAltoonaCurve.com The Tampa Bay Rays and Los Angeles Dodgers were the two best teams in baseball during the truncated 2020 season. Now they are hours away from lifting the lid on the 2020 World Series. While each city has already captured a major sports championship this year (Tampa Bay Lightning won the Stanley Cup … More Eastern League Graduates in the 2020 World Series
By Garett MansfieldAltoonaCurve.com We made it. The 60-game Major League Baseball season has been completed and there are playoff games set to begin this evening. Click here to view the MLB Postseason Bracket and Schedule A total of 53 former Curve players played at least one Major League game in 2020, including nine alums that played … More Eight Curve alumni prepare for expanded 2020 MLB Postseason
By Garett MansfieldAltoonaCurve.com Even without a Minor League Baseball season, over two dozen talented, up-and-comers in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization departed Peoples Natural Gas Field this week. It brings a small sense of normalcy to an abnormal year. Every year since 1999, kids in Altoona go back to school and ballplayers return home right around this … More Taxi Squad Sendoff: Observations from Altoona’s Alternate Training Site
By Garett MansfieldAltoonaCurve.com This contribution to the Around the Curve Blog is presented by Microtel. Plan your stay at one of Altoona’s three Lion Country Lodging locations. Click here to make a reservation today.
By Garett MansfieldAltoonaCurve.com The Major League trade deadline is just around the corner. By Friday, August 28, the Pittsburgh Pirates have already added one player via trade (RHP Austin Davis from Philadelphia) and traded a player away (OF Jarrod Dyson) leading up to the 4 p.m. deadline on August 31. Acquiring players to build a consistent … More Trading Spaces: How Altoona has been involved in Pittsburgh’s deadline deals
By Garett MansfieldAltoonaCurve.com As the summer of 2020 rolls on, Peoples Natural Gas Field remains full of top prospects. The current alternate site roster includes 15 players with Top 30 prospect status within the Pirates system by either Baseball America or MLB.com (or both). This begs the question: Is this the most talent ever assembled at … More Is this the most talent assembled in Altoona at one time?
By Garett MansfieldAltoonaCurve.com It is nearly impossible to compile a list of Curve alumni that could play their first Major League games each year. One unexpected result of the 60-man player pools for the 2020 MLB season, an official “watch list” can be built. Players within the Pirates organization are fairly easy to keep track of … More These Curve alumni could make their MLB debut in 2020
By Garett MansfieldAltoonaCurve.com This contribution to the Around the Curve Blog is presented by Microtel. Plan your stay at one of Altoona’s three Lion Country Lodging locations. Click here to make a reservation today.
By Garett MansfieldAltoonaCurve.com The future is now. Although they are not wearing Curve uniforms, the players assigned to the Pirates alternative training site make up some of the best baseball talent ever assembled within Peoples Natural Gas Field. Since 1999, Altoona has served as a vital training ground for Pittsburgh’s next crop of talent, much like … More Pirates prospects at the Altoona camp
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