Around the Curve | Andy Fox Gives Curve Stability in Dugout

This story is part of the series 2026 Spring Break: Young Bucs Edition, a compilation of reports from Bradenton leading up to Opening Day.

BRADENTON, Fla. - Throughout the rich history of Curve baseball, the club has been fortunate to have an incredible amount of continuity in its coaches and players over the years. Prior to 2020, the Curve only had two Managers (Tom Prince in 2015 and Joey Cora in 2016) hold the role for only one season before moving onto another opportunity in baseball. With the change in Pittsburgh’s baseball operations group ahead of the 2020 season, the Pirates have struggled to capture the same consistency in their Double-A coaching staff. In 2026, that will change with the return of Manager Andy Fox to Curve, PA.

Through a lifetime in the game, Fox has done and seen it all. Though it’s clear watching him gravitate from group to group at Pirate City that he’s comfortable as a Pirate and has embraced a return to the Managerial role in Altoona.

After his first season in Curve, PA, which included the franchise’s first playoff appearance in seven years, Fox reflected on his first season back in the dugout following a sim game at Pirate City in early-March.

“I had an idea going into it, but managing the day-to-day stuff was something I had to re-learn. Managing the staff, the report times, the food, certain nuances of rain delays and the rules of the game,” Fox relayed. “I was fortunate to have a great staff that had been through it and been in the minor leagues for a while and I really enjoyed it. I was so happy with the group we had and how hard we played as a team.”

While the 2025 Curve got off to a slow start, Fox could see the club come together as the season went on and pointed to the team’s weeklong series at Binghamton before the All-Star break as a turning point.

Altoona dropped the first four games of the series before earning a 4-1 win on Saturday and then taking a back-and-forth game on Sunday, the final game before players scattered all over the country for their four-day break.

“Binghamton was one of the best teams all year [Editor’s note, they won the Eastern League Championship] and with Wyatt Hendrie hitting that Grand Slam after we lost the lead in the Sunday game, I could just see the confidence really bump up for us. The guys could see that we really could do this and that confidence was evident when we came back from the All-Star break,” Fox shared.

Of course, the most significant story of the second half of the season in Curve, PA was the arrival of baseball’s top prospect to the top of the lineup, Konnor Griffin. Griffin quickly became one of the Eastern League’s best players, punctuated by a career-best seven RBI performance in Harrisburg at the end of August.

Having had a chance to see him work again this spring, Fox remains impressed with what the 19-year-old can do.

“He’s just keeping his trajectory. People, forget, he was learning how to play professional baseball last year and the grind of it, not only just A-ball, but Double-A. He’s a special kid and a special player, and he’s only going to get better.”

As Fox enters his second season as a member of the Pirates Player Development group, it’s clear why he’s such a great fit with the organization.

“This organization is great at emphasizing the little things, playing the game the right way and trying to win on the margins. The big things will come just by playing games and working hard and things like that, but the emphasis on cuts and relays, running the bases, things that we sometimes take for granted, but really do help you win games,” Fox said.

Stay tuned to the Around the Curve blog all month for our 2026 Spring Break: Young Bucs Edition series, with Jon Mozes and Preston Shoemaker reporting from Bradenton.