2026 MLB Draft - 1st Round (5th Overall) - Pittsburgh Pirates
2026 ABCA Third-Team All-American
2026 ABCA Gold Glove Team
2026 Second-Team All-SEC
2026 SEC All-Defensive Team
2026 ABCA First-Team All-South Region
2026 SEC Academic Honor Roll
2026 LSWA First-Team All-Louisiana
2025 D1 Baseball National Freshman of the Year
2025 College World Series All-Tournament Team
2025 ABCA Second-Team All-American
2025 First-Team Freshman All-American (D1 Baseball, Baseball America, NCBWA, Perfect Game)
2025 NCAA Baton Rouge Regional All-Tournament Team
2025 Second-Team All-SEC
2025 Freshman All-SEC
2025 ABCA First-Team All-South Region
2025 First-Year SEC Academic Honor Roll
2025 LSWA Louisiana Freshman of the Year
SEC Freshman of the Week (April 28, 2025)
SEC Co-Freshman of the Week (March 17, 2025)
Selected No. 5 overall in the 2026 MLB Draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates ... posted a .349 (171-for-490) career batting average in two seasons at LSU (2025-26) ... started all 126 games in which he played during his college career, collecting 38 doubles, four triples, 13 home runs, 101 RBI, 131 runs, 16 steals and a .452 on-base percentage ... LSU's starting leftfielder in 2025, and the Tigers' starting centerfielder in 2026.
2026 Season
• Curiel hit a team-high .353 (82-for-232) in 2026 with 18 doubles, two triples, six homers, 46 RBI, 64 runs and 13 stolen bases ... a Second-Team All-SEC and First-Team ABCA All-South Region selection, he finished No. 4 in the SEC in batting average, No. 5 in hits, No. 10 in doubles, No. 10 in triples and No. 10 in runs scored
• Also voted to the 2026 SEC All-Defensive Team and the ABCA Gold Glove Team, Curiel completed the season with a 10-game hitting streak, batting .447 (17-for-38) during the streak with seven doubles, three RBI, 13 runs, nine walks and a .542 on-base percentage
• Hit .500 (5-for-10) in the three-game series at Georgia (May 8-10) with one double, one RBI, four runs, three walks and a .571 on-base percentage
• 3-for-4 vs. Southeastern Louisiana (April 28) with two doubles, one homer, two RBI and three runs
• Blasted grand slams in back-to-back games vs. Southern (March 31) and at Tennessee (April 3); his grand slam at Tennessee erased a 4-1 Volunteers lead in the top of the eighth inning
• Batted .500 (7-for-14) in the Tennessee series (April 3-5) with one triple, one homer, five RBI, four runs and one steal
• Voted to the 2026 SEC Academic Honor Roll for the second straight year as a sport administration major
2025 Season
• Started in all 68 games (62 in left field, three in center field, 3 at DH), batting a team-high .345 on the year with 20 doubles, two triples, seven homers, 55 RBI and 67 runs, as he helped lead LSU to the NCAA College World Series National Championship
• Named to the College World Series All-Tournament Team after hitting .316 (6-for-19) with three RBI and three runs
• LSU’s leading hitter in NCAA Tournament games, batting .390 (16-for-41) with four doubles, one homer, 10 RBI and 13 runs
• Hit a team-high .571 (4-for-7) in NCAA Super Regional vs. West Virginia (June 7-8) with one double, one homer, five RBI and six runs
• Voted to the 2025 NCAA Baton Rouge Regional All-Tournament Team, batting .400 (6-for-15) with two doubles, two RBI and four runs
• Posted a 43-game reached base safely streak – which ended on April 26 versus Tennessee – marking the fifth-longest on record in the annals of LSU baseball … outfielder Dylan Crews holds the LSU single-season reached base safely mark, as Crews reached base in all 71 games during the 2023 season … the other Top 5 reached base safely streaks in LSU history are No. 4 – infielder Alex Bregman (49 games in 2015), No. 3 – infielder Gavin Dugas (55 games in 2023) and No. 2 – outfielder Mikie Mahtook (56 games in 2011)
• Curiel finished No. 1 in the SEC in doubles (20), No. 3 in the league in walks (53), No. 4 in hits (89), No. 4 in on-base percentage (.470), No. 6 in runs scored (67) and No. 10 in batting average (.345)
• Led off the LSU first inning with a home run three times this season, and he reached base safely in 10 straight plate appearances over two games (April 27 and 29 vs. Tennessee and Southeastern Louisiana)
• Named SEC Freshman of the Week on April 28 after leading LSU to a series win over Tennessee (April 25-27), batting .417 (5-for-12) in the series with two doubles, one homer, three runs and six RBI … he enjoyed a remarkable day at the plate in the April 27 series-clinching victory, going 4-for-4 with one homer, two doubles and a career-high five RBI … Curiel’s two-out RBI single in the bottom of the ninth inning in the April 25 Game 1 versus Tennessee tied the contest at 3-3 and set the stage for first baseman Jared Jones to follow with a walk-off homer that lifted the Tigers to victory
• 5-for-13 in Alabama series (April 17-19) with three RBI and one run scored
• Posted three doubles, four RBI and two runs in Oklahoma series (April 3-5)
• 4-for-12 in Mississippi State series (March 27-29) with one homer, two RBI and five runs scored
• Collected one homer, one double, two RBI and two runs scored in Texas series (March 21-23)
• Voted SEC Co-Freshman of the Week on March 17, as he hit .571 (8-for-14) in four games – including a three-game SEC sweep of Missouri – with two doubles, one triple, four RBI and six runs
• 3-for-3 with two doubles, two runs and one RBI vs. Xavier (March 11)
High School
• Ranked in 2024 as the No. 10 overall high school player in the country and as the second-best high school player in the state of California by Perfect Game
• Batted .314 with 33 hits – including 10 doubles – 21 RBI and 19 stolen bases in his senior year (2024) at Orange Lutheran High School
• A two-time member of the 18U USA National Team and a four-time High School All-American … named a Perfect Game Player of the Year in 2020 and in 2023
Personal
Full name is Derek Boaz Curiel … born May 24, 2005, in West Covina, Calif. … parents are Rick and Linda Curiel; father is a police officer, mother is a stay-at-home mom … has two siblings, Donovyn and Ysabella.
Curiel’s LSU Career Highs
Hits: 4 vs. Tennessee (4/27/25)
Runs Scored: 4 vs. Indiana (2/20/26)
Doubles: 2 six times – most recently vs. Oklahoma (5/19/26 - SEC Tournament)
Triples: 1 four times; most recently at Tennessee (4/5/26)
Home Runs: 1 on 13 occasions; most recently vs. Southeastern Louisiana (4/28/26)
RBI: 5 vs. West Virginia (June 7, 2025 – NCAA Super Regional)