The Pirates selected Curiel with the fifth overall pick in the 2026 First-Year Player Draft.
A glove-first center fielder from LSU, Curiel is also firmly hit-over-power. Despite his quality center-field defense, Curiel is just an above-average runner, with his excellent instincts carrying that aspect of his profile. He also has a fringe-average arm to go with fringe-average raw power. Curiel hit .349 in college with 13 homers and 16 steals in 126 games. He cut his strikeout rate from 17.3 percent as a freshman to 15.7 percent as a draft-eligible sophomore. Curiel has good size at 6-foot-2, 192 pounds, and it's possible he'll be able to unlock another level as a power hitter with pro instruction, but as things stand, he's a better real-life prospect than a fantasy one.