Diamondbacks' John Curtiss Discusses Meaningful Milestone

After Arizona Diamondbacks right-hander John Curtiss slammed the door on a nail-biting extra-inning victory on Saturday night, he was seen speaking to manager Torey Lovullo on the field.

Curtiss was getting a ball authenticated after picking up the win over the Minnesota Twins — the very same team that drafted him way back in 2014.

"I asked what was going on and what was the reasoning, and he just said for personal reasons, and I don't want to share that, that this one really meant a lot to [him]," Lovullo said to D-backs.TV's Todd Walsh.

"I think he was very eager to go out there and show the Twins what he's capable of doing. But it was a great moment for him. He was throwing the ball really, really well."

The next morning, on the broadcast prior to Sunday's game three win, Curtiss spoke about what that win meant to him.

Arizona Diamondbacks' John Curtiss Discusses Milestone

For a player who's been through so many organizations in a journeyman career, it was a poignant moment to punch out the final batter of the team that began his baseball journey over a decade ago.

Curtiss reflected on that lengthy journey and was thankful to still be in a position to contribute to a competitive major league team.

"I'm just grateful to still be in the league," Curtiss said.

"The likelihood of me still being here on September 13th of 2025 did not seem very high when I got designated for assignment in December or January of 2019 at this point, so I'm just happy to still be here and still be competing."

"I think that everybody wants to do well against their former teams. At this point, I have seven of them so I've been through this ringer," he said. "It's not the first time this season I've faced a former team. I've already done that three times this year."

"My first outing this year was against the Marlins. I just faced Milwaukee in Milwaukee and I faced Colorado, so it's not anything new for me."

And Curtiss' story isn't just one of a journeyman finding a new home. He's been effective with Arizona this season. There were glimpses of this possibility back in spring training, which we covered at the time.

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Despite the dismal overall performance of the D-backs' relief group, Curtiss has quietly lowered his season ERA to 3.06 over 32.1 innings. He's provided both length and results, and has taken his fair share of turns in high-leverage situations.

For an arm the D-backs signed to a minor league deal (and called up in late June), Curtiss has performed admirably, taking down former team after former team along the way.

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