Around the Curve | Checking in on Recent MLB Debuts

CURVE, Pa. – Altoona has always been the place to see Tomorrow’s Stars Today, as 235 players have worn the Curve uniform before heading to the Major Leagues. This season has proved to be another strong one for the alumni, as 10 former Altoona Curve stars have made their MLB debuts, the most in a single-season since 2023 when a record 15 players debuted.

This is the 10^th time that 10 or more Curve players have debuted in a single season. Of the 10 players this year, five have begun their time in the majors with the Pirates, while five have popped up elsewhere across the league. Let’s check in on the former Curve stars who have debuted this season!

1. RHP Antwone Kelly (6/12/26 — Pittsburgh Pirates)

Antwone Kelly became the first Pittsburgh Pirate and seventh Major Leaguer all-time to hail from Aruba. A native of Oranjestad, the 22-year-old Kelly began his career with 2.1 innings of work in relief against the Marlins in Pittsburgh. This season, he had pitched to a 5.08 ERA in 14 appearances and 10 starts with Triple-A Indianapolis. Seen as the Pirates No. 7 prospect, he is the latest starting pitching prospect to be converted into the bullpen.

Kelly posted a 3.00 ERA across 11 starts and 48 innings of work with the Curve in 2025, helping to lead the team to the postseason for the first time since 2018.

2. OF Jase Bowen (6/2/26 — San Diego Padres)

Jase Bowen made his Major League debut in Philadelphia with the San Diego Padres and recorded his first hit in the majors in the top of the seventh inning off Orion Kerkering. Through 11 games, he has recorded three hits and two stolen bases. Bowen began his first season in the Padres system in Triple-A Albuquerque, where he hit .292 with 11 doubles, five triples, and 13 RBI in 49 games.

Bowen was originally an 11^th round draft pick in 2019 by the Pirates out of high school in Ohio. He played 170 games with Altoona across three seasons from 2023 to 2025. The outfielder arrived in Altoona for eight games at the end of 2023 before appearing in 110 games in 2024. Bowen elected free agency after 2025 and signed with the Padres on a minor league deal with an invite to Padres Spring Training.

3. RHP Wilkin Ramos (6/1/26 — San Francisco Giants)

A 2025 Eastern League Postseason All-Star, Wilkin Ramos debuted in the majors with the San Francisco Giants after electing free agency this past offseason.

Ramos appeared in two outings for San Francisco at the beginning of June before being re-assigned to Triple-A Sacramento, where he is 3-2 with a 4.30 ERA in 20 appearances this season.

Originally acquired by the Pirates via a trade with the Athletics back in 2018 when he was just 18 years old, Ramos worked his way up through the minor league ranks before he was taken in the MiLB Rule V Draft by the Mets in 2022. He resigned with the Pirates as a free agent before the 2025 season and became one of the best arms in the Curve bullpen, spinning 49.2 innings with a remarkable 1.45 ERA. He became the first Curve pitcher since 2014 to be named a postseason all-star.

4. INF Charles McAdoo (5/29/26 — Toronto Blue Jays)

The 2023 Pittsburgh 13th round draft selection wasted no time in his major league debut. Charles McAdoo crushed a two-run homer at Camden Yards to help Toronto score six unanswered runs in a comeback 6-5 win over the Orioles.

In his first seven Major League games, McAdoo has four hits and three runs batted in. The former 13^th round pick by the Pirates in 2023 had hit .250 in 50 games this year with Triple-A Buffalo, adding six doubles, a triple, and eight home runs.

McAdoo logged 27 games in Altoona before the Blue Jays acquired him from the Pirates in the Isiah Kiner-Falefa trade in the summer of 2024. The San Jose State product posted a .269 average and an .837 OPS with the Curve. In 2025 with the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, McAdoo hit .247 with 24 doubles, a triple, and 16 home runs.

5. OF Esmerlyn Valdez (5/22/26 — Pittsburgh Pirates)

Esmerlyn Valdez is another who wasted no time in his debut. The 22-year-old also hard-launched his major league career like McAdoo as his first hit in the majors was an opposite field home run in Toronto. Valdez has been back-and-forth from Pittsburgh to Indianapolis this year, playing in nine games with the Pirates.

The youthful right-handed hitter spent the backend of his 2025 campaign with the Curve, making 51 appearances and helping Altoona to the postseason with a .260 average and 14 extra-base hits. Seen as the Pirates No. 9 prospect, Valdez started 2026 in Triple-A Indianapolis and has homered 13 times in 56 games with the Indians, leading to his promotion in late May.

6. RHP Brandan Bidois (5/13/26 — Pittsburgh Pirates)

Brandan Bidois’s Major League debut story will be told for ages. He became the first Pirates player from Australia to appear in a game when he debuted on May 13^th. The Aussie had not seen his mother, Sharon, for two years prior to his debut in Pittsburgh in mid-May. Upon hearing the news of his promotion, his mom hopped on a 24-hour flight to catch her son’s debut, and because a 7-inning Paul Skenes gem on May 12th allowed the Pirates to not need Bidois, she was able to see his debut in-person at PNC Park on the 13th.

Bidois has made 13 appearances since with the Pirates, bouncing back and forth from Triple-A Indianapolis. Last season, he was one of the best stories in the Minor Leagues. He was named the organization's Kent Tekulve Reliever of the Year following the 2025 season after going a combined 8-0 with seven saves, a 0.74 ERA (61.0ip/5er), 69 strikeouts, a .110 batting average against (22-for-200) and a 0.80 WHIP in 40 appearances split between Low-A Bradenton, High-A Greensboro, Double-A Altoona and Indianapolis.

His 0.74 ERA last season was the lowest mark among all relief pitchers in Minor League Baseball (minimum 60.0 innings pitched). It was also the lowest mark by a minor league reliever with at least 60.0 innings pitched in a season since 2019. He faced 64 straight batters last year from July 29 at Portland (with Altoona) to September 9 vs. Iowa (with Indianapolis) without allowing a hit. Bidois helped the Curve build their case for the postseason before leaving for Triple-A, yielding just three earned runs in 25 innings on the hill in Altoona.

7. RHP Domingo Gonzalez (5/12/26 — Seattle Mariners)

You may not remember it, but Domingo Gonzalez did appear for the Altoona Curve… in one game in the final series of the season against Reading in 2022! He threw three innings out of the pen and struck out four while allowing one run in his only outing in a Curve uniform.

The right-hander has made five appearances with the Mariners this season, otherwise spending his time with Triple-A Tacoma, where he has a 1.59 ERA in 19 appearances. He was originally signed by the Pirates as an International Free Agent in 2018 and was lost in the MiLB Rule V Draft to the Braves following the 2022 season. After cracking the 40-man roster after the 2024 season, he was designated for assignment in 2025 and claimed by Seattle.

8. RHP Wilber Dotel (4/19/26 — Pittsburgh Pirates)

Wilber Dotel is another starting pitching prospect who has given the bullpen a try in an attempt to get some stronger arms to the Majors.

The right-hander was a workhorse for the Curve in 2025. The right-hander racked up a team-leading 125.2 innings in his 27 starts for Altoona, finishing fourth on the all-time strikeouts list with 131, 11 shy of the record. His steady performance helped lead the Curve to the postseason.

Dotel was added to the Pirates 40-man roster in the offseason and began the season with Triple-A Indianapolis, where he has made six appearances and four starts this season. Seen as the Pirates No. 11 prospect, Dotel has made nine relief appearances for the Pirates since joining the squad in mid-April and is currently on the Injured List.

9. LHP Tyler Samaniego (4/8/26 — Boston Red Sox)

Tyler Samaniego’s story is one of perseverance. The four-year Curve alum made his MLB debut for the Red Sox on April 8 in his first season in the Boston system. In his debut against Milwaukee, Samaniego struck out the side as he tossed a scoreless eighth inning.

The left-hander has spent most of the season in the Red Sox bullpen, where he has made 20 appearances with a 2.66 ERA and 17 strikeouts in 20.1 innings. He was traded to Boston in the offseason along with Johan Oviedo in exchange for OF Jhostynxon Garcia.

He was originally a 15^th round selection by the Pirates in 2021 out of South Alabama. Samaniego spent time in Altoona from 2022-2025, appearing in 98 games for the Curve. After dealing with injuries that sidelined him in 2023 and 2024, he returned in 2025 to pitch well out of the Curve bullpen, striking out 30 batters in 26.1 innings, earning him a spot on the Pirates 40-man roster prior to the trade.

10. INF Konnor Griffin (4/3/26 — Pittsburgh Pirates)

Major League Baseball’s No. 1 Prospect and 2025 Curve alum Konnor Griffin made his MLB debut on April 3 at PNC Park after playing just five games with Triple-A Indianapolis. The star shortstop signed a nine-year contract extension worth $140 million on April 8. He became the first teenager to make his debut for Pittsburgh since Aramis Ramirez (19 years, 335 days) on May 26, 1998 at Milwaukee.

The now 20-year-old has performed well in Pittsburgh this season despite being sidelined for the past few weeks due to injury. In 51 games, he has hit .270 with nine doubles, two triples, and four home runs.

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. Griffin hit a combined .333 (161-for-484) with 23 doubles, four triples, 21 home runs, 94 RBI, 50 walks, 65 stolen bases, 117 runs and a .942 OPS in 122 games split between Low-A Bradenton, High-A Greensboro and Double-A Altoona during the 2025 campaign (his first professional season).