PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates are set to promote one of their top pitching prospects before the 2025 season concludes.
On September 21, Brent Martineau reported that the Pirates called up left-handed pitcher Hunter Barco. This was later verified by MLB.com’s Alex Stumpf and Colin Beazley of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
The Pittsburgh Pirates are expected to add left-handed pitching prospect Hunter Barco to their 40-man roster from Triple-A Indianapolis, requiring them to designate a player for assignment to create space and option a player from the 28-man MLB roster to accommodate Barco. JosĂ© Negron of DK Pittsburgh Sports noted that Barco could also join via the taxi squad, an informal term for players shuttling between MLB and Triple-A based on team needs, sometimes referred to as the “26th man” due to the historical 25-man roster limit.
Barco began the 2025 season impressively with Double-A Altoona, posting a 1-0 record in five starts during April, allowing no runs, nine hits, three hit batters, and four walks, while recording 30 strikeouts and a .132 opposing batting average. He set a franchise record for the longest scoreless inning streak to start a season at 25.2 innings and was named the Eastern League Pitcher of the Month for April. Promoted to Indianapolis on May 6, he finished his Altoona stint with a 0.00 ERA over 25.2 innings, 34 strikeouts, seven walks, a .131 opposing batting average, and a 0.70 WHIP.
With Indianapolis, Barco made 17 starts in 21 appearances before his anticipated call-up, posting a 3-1 record, a 3.79 ERA over 73.2 innings, 82 strikeouts, 42 walks, a .215 opposing batting average, and a 1.37 WHIP. He missed two weeks in May due to a mild shoulder strain but returned in June after a brief stint on the 7-day injured list.
Selected 44th overall in the second round of the 2022 MLB Draft out of Florida, Barco underwent Tommy John surgery before being drafted and debuted in the minors on July 20, 2023, with the Florida Complex League Pirates during a rehab assignment. He made three appearances, including two starts, before advancing to Single-A Bradenton for six starts to close out the season.
In 2024, Barco primarily pitched for High-A Greensboro, achieving a 4-1 record in 16 appearances (14 starts), with a 3.34 ERA over 62.0 innings, 77 strikeouts, 22 walks, a .207 opposing batting average, and a 1.10 WHIP. Promoted to Altoona on July 19, his season ended after two starts due to a stress response in his left leg.
MLB Pipeline ranks Barco as the 82nd overall prospect in baseball, the fourth-best prospect in the Pirates’ system, the second-best pitching prospect behind Bubba Chandler (now at the MLB level), and the top left-handed pitching prospect in the organization.
With six games left in the 2025 season—a three-game series against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park (Sept. 23-25) and another against the Atlanta Braves at Truist Park (Sept. 26-28)—Barco provides a crucial left-handed pitching option, as Evan Sisk is currently the only left-handed pitcher on the Pirates’ staff.
Source: SI.com
Leave a Reply