Overview
- Rating: 4.80
- 2025 stats: 3-2 W/L, 1 SV, 36.2 IP, 3.93 ERA, 4.01 FIP, 0.2 aWAR
- Date of birth: April 5, 1993 (age 32 season)
- 2025 earnings: $425,000 (per Spotrac, prorated league minimum deal)
- 2026 status: Free agent
Voting overview
2025 review
John Curtiss has had a journeyman career in Major League Baseball. Drafted back in 2014 out of the University of Texas by the Minnesota Twins, he has pitched in the Majors in 8 seasons and has been a part
of 9 different organizations. Coming off a 2024 season in which he only pitched 2.1 innings at the MLB level for the Colorado Rockies, one may have thought that his career was coming to an end. Fortunately for both him and the Arizona Diamondbacks, he appears to have a new lease on life after his performance in 2025.
The D-backs signed Curtiss to a minor league contract in February 2025 (the same day the team signed Scott McGough, interestingly) and he stumbled his way to a 6.52 ERA during Spring Training. It didn’t get much better for him in Reno where he was rocked for a 6.34 ERA across 32.2 IP. Still, desperate times on the Major League roster led to Curtiss getting a shot on June 28. While it may have looked like he would just be a stopgap to be DFA’d a few games after his call up, Curtiss would go on to make more appearances and pitch more innings than any other Snakes reliever from the date of his arrival through the balance of 2025. It wasn’t just empty calories that Curtiss was providing, either. By just about any metric you could argue that Curtiss was our second-best reliever (behind Andrew Saalfrank) over the final 3 months of the season.
Curtiss made his D-backs debut on June 29th, a day after his arrival in Phoenix, against the Marlins where he recorded the final 4 outs of the team loss in perfect fashion. He got his first Win for the Snakes the next day against the Giants when he recorded 2 outs in the 8th before handing the ball to Shelby Miller who was able to lock down a 4-out Save. Curtiss had a rough July, posting a 7.27 ERA for the month and allowing multiple runs in 3 of his 7 appearances, but Torey Lovullo stuck with the vet and he rewarded him with a 3.12 ERA the rest of the season and only having one appearance with multiple runs allowed in the thick of the playoff chase.
As the season played out, I was surprised that as reliable as Curtiss was performing – and as inconsistent as much of the bullpen was – Torey kept Curtiss relegated to negative game scripts. As the Diamondbacks approached and then eclipsed the Major League record for number of different players with a Save during a single season, I was curious why Curtiss wasn’t getting his shot. Finally, during the final week of the season, Curtiss got his first Save opportunity against the Philadelphia Phillies and he didn’t waste it. He came in to face the bottom of the Phillies order and allowed a 2-out single to Bryson Stott which flipped the lineup over and red-hot Harrison Bader came to the plate. Curtiss didn’t blink, proceeding to induce a weak grounder right at Geraldo Perdomo and become the MLB record 17th – and final – Diamondbacks player to record a Save in 2025. That win was crucial to the Diamondbacks slim playoff hopes, bringing them within 2 games of the Mets and the final Wild Card spot with 1 week to play.
2026 outlook
John Curtiss certainly proved that he deserves another opportunity in the Show in 2026, but which team it will be for remains a question. After the season, the Diamondbacks outrighted Curtiss to AAA and the vet elected free agency. Whether he gets a minor league or a big league deal remains to be seen, but I am confident Curtiss will throw off a MLB mound in 2026 based on his strong finish to 2025 with us. It’s probable that his 2026 won’t be as good as his 2025, but I wouldn’t be mad at all if the Snakes bring Curtiss back on a minor league deal. Wherever he winds up, I genuinely hope he has a good season. Good luck, Mr. Curtiss!
