Pirates Top Draft Pick Has ‘Full Belief’ in Organization

Almost two months ago at this point, the Pittsburgh Pirates made a somewhat shocking decision by selecting LSU outfielder Derek Curiel with the No. 5 overall pick in the 2026 MLB Draft.

Even though Curiel wasn’t the highest-rated player at his position coming into the draft, the Pirates still see something in him that gives him the potential to be a superstar at some point in the near future.

On the other side of things, Curiel is confident in what the Pirates organization can do to help him become the best version of himself; the 21-year-old has full faith in Pittsburgh’s development team, and he knows that confidence goes both ways. 

“I think the Pirates kind of have it down right now when it comes to developing their prospects. My trust is in them. My full belief is in them. I know it’s vice-versa. I’m excited," said Curiel (via Jason Mackey or MLB.com). 

Curiel is right; the Pirates have a strong recent track record of identifying and developing some of the sport's best young players. Recent examples include both Konnor Griffin and Esmerlyn Valdez.

At this point, it still remains to be seen what Curiel will look like at the professional level. He still hasn’t made an affiliate-level debut after airing out the final few months of the 2026 Minor League season.

However, Curiel believes he’s in great physical shape and could even add power from his weight room work.

His coaches have also pointed out how hard a worker the 21-year-old is.

Curiel put together a really strong collegiate career during his two years at LSU. He appeared in a total of 126 games and slashed .349/.452/.522 over that stretch.

One of Curiel’s biggest strengths in college was hitting high-velocity pitches, which will certainly be something he must do to have success at the MLB level.

That said, he does still have parts of his game that need polishing. This offseason, Curiel is working on minor swing adjustments to help him generate more air under the ball. 

It looks like Curiel is ready to listen to whatever Pittsburgh’s coaches and development team have to offer. If he does just that, there’s a good chance that outfielder could be making an appearance with the Pirates’ big-league team sooner rather than later.

Pittsburgh has recently shown a trend of not holding back some of its young prospects if they’re succeeding at each level. Curiel has the potential to be the next player in that line if he stays on the same trajectory he's currently on.