Pirates' Hunter Barco: Promotion on tap
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The Pirates are expected to call up Barco from Triple-A Indianapolis for the final week of the season, Alex Stumpf of MLB.com reports.
One of the top pitching prospects in the Pittsburgh system, Barco will move up to the majors after he compiled a 2.81 ERA, 1.20 WHIP and 116:49 K:BB in 99.1 innings between stops at Indianapolis and Double-A Altoona this season. While the Pirates likely envision the 24-year-old lefty serving as a big-league starter in the long run, he made four of his final five appearances with Indianapolis in relief, so he'll most likely work out of the bullpen during his initial stint in the majors. With Pittsburgh cognizant of managing the workloads of young starters Bubba Chandler, Mike Burrows and Braxton Ashcraft as the season winds down, Barco could be an option to pitch multiple innings behind any of those pitchers when their turns in the rotation come up this week.
