Barco (1-0) allowed two hits in a scoreless inning to earn the win Tuesday against the Reds.
Barco had his contract selected Tuesday and made his debut in the sixth inning. He allowed a pair of singles but ultimately escaped a jam by inducing a groundout. Barco may make one additional appearance out of the bullpen before the close of the season, and he could be in line to compete for a rotation spot to begin 2026.
The Pirates selected Barco's contract from Triple-A Indianapolis on Tuesday.
Barco has had an excellent season between Double-A Altoona and Indianapolis, collecting a 2.81 ERA, 1.20 WHIP and 116:49 K:BB across 99.1 innings. The left-hander had been pitching mostly in relief lately with Indianapolis, and the Pirates are likely to break him in as a reliever at the big-league level.
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.
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Pirates' Hunter Barco: Back from IL
Rotowire
Barco (shoulder) was activated from the 7-day injured list by Triple-A Indianapolis on Saturday, Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.
Barco was diagnosed with a mild muscle strain in his left shoulder last week but missed just 10 days of action. The 24-year-old left-hander has made eight starts at Triple-A this season and has turned in a microscopic 0.89 ERA and 11.9 K/9 across 30.1 innings of work. Barco is viewed as one of the organization's top pitching prospects.
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Pirates' Hunter Barco: Out with strained shoulder
Rotowire
The Pirates announced Wednesday that Barco has been diagnosed with a mild muscle strain in his left shoulder, Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.
Triple-A Indianapolis placed Barco on its 7-day injured list Sunday, but the 24-year-old isn't expected to be headed for an extended absence. He's since resumed throwing out to 120 feet after suffering the injury, which bodes well for his chances of returning to action at Indianapolis before the end of the month or perhaps in early June. Barco made two starts for the Triple-A club since being promoted earlier this month after opening the season with a 34:7 K:BB over 25.2 scoreless frames in six starts with Double-A Altoona.
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Pirates' Hunter Barco: Shut down at Triple-A
Rotowire
Triple-A Indianapolis placed Barco on its 7-day injured list Sunday due to an unspecified injury.
Barco sustained the injury at some point during his most recent start for Indianapolis last Thursday, when he was lifted midway through the first inning after allowing two earned runs on one hit and three walks. The 24-year-old lefty had enjoyed a strong start to the season prior to that outing, producing a 0.30 ERA, 0.77 WHIP and 39:10 K:BB across 30 innings over his seven starts between Indianapolis and Double-A Altoona.
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Pirates' Hunter Barco: Exits Triple-A outing with injury
Rotowire
Barco was removed from Thursday's start at Triple-A Indianapolis in the first inning with an undisclosed injury, Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.
Barco was lifted in the middle of an at-bat after delivering his 23rd pitch of the frame. It's unclear what injury the left-hander is dealing with, but an update on his condition could be available later Thursday. Barco was making just his second start for Indianapolis following a promotion earlier this month from Double-A Altoona. Heading into action Thursday, the southpaw had allowed just one run with a 39:10 K:BB in his first 30 innings this season.
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Pirates' Hunter Barco: Bumped up to Triple-A
Rotowire
Barco was promoted to Triple-A Indianapolis on Saturday, Alex Stumpf of MLB.com reports.
Barco had a dominant start to the season with Double-A Altoona, as he threw 25.2 scoreless innings with a 34:7 K:BB prior to his promotion. Bubba Chandler will still almost certainly beat him to the big-league rotation, though Barco could find his way to Pittsburgh at some point during the summer months.
Barco was reassigned to minor-league camp Thursday.
The Pirates' top left-handed pitching prospect, Barco made two appearances in Grapefruit League play this spring, allowing four hits, two walks and four earned runs across 2.2 innings, striking out one. Barco advanced to Double-A last season before his 2024 campaign was cut short in July due to a leg injury. He entered spring training healthy and figures to open the year back in Double-A.
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Pirates' Hunter Barco: Taking part in camp
Rotowire
Barco (lower body) completed a bullpen session Thursday, Andrew Destin of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.
Barco didn't make any appearances after July 28 of last season due to what Pirates director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk termed as a "left lower-extremity" injury, but the 24-year-old lefty doesn't appear to be operating with any restrictions to begin spring training. He'll likely open the 2025 season at Double-A Altoona, with whom he struck out six over four innings of one-run ball across his two starts last summer before landing on the injured list.
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Pirates' Hunter Barco: Sidelined with lower-body injury
Rotowire
Pirates director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk said Friday that Barco was placed on Double-A Altoona's 7-day injured list July 30 with a "left lower-extremity" injury and will be confined to a walking boot for three weeks, Andrew Destin of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.
Tomczyk labeled Barco's injury as a "stress response" rather than a stress reaction, but with Double-A Altoona's season coming to an end Sept. 15, the left-hander could end up being shut down for 2024. Barco had missed most of the 2023 season while recovering from Tommy John surgery and missed about two weeks of action in July while he was on High-A Greensboro's development list. He returned July 21 with Altoona and made two starts at the Double-A level before being shut down with the lower-extremity injury.
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Pirates' Hunter Barco: Resting after strong first half
Rotowire
Barco, who has logged 62 innings in his first full season since undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2022, was placed on the development list for High-A Greensboro on Tuesday.
Barco had surgery in May of 2022 and threw 18.1 innings in late 2023 after returning. He has been excellent thus far for the Grasshoppers, logging a 3.34 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and 77 strikeouts across 16 appearances, but Pittsburgh is keeping a close eye on his workload. It's unclear when Barco will return from his break on the development list.
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Pirates' Hunter Barco: Active at Single-A
Rotowire
Barco (elbow) was activated from the 60-day injured list and assigned to Single-A Bradenton on Aug. 3.
He walked two and struck out two while recording just two outs in his first start for the Marauders on Sunday. Barco built up to four innings in his final rehab start in the Florida Complex League, so it's a bit surprising he recorded only two outs in his first Single-A start. He underwent Tommy John surgery prior to getting selected by the Pirates with the 44th overall pick in last year's draft.
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Pirates' Hunter Barco: Rehabbing in FCL
Rotowire
Barco (elbow) began a rehab assignment in the rookie-level Florida Complex League on July 20 and has turned in a 1.00 ERA, 0.67 WHIP and 12:2 K:BB across nine innings over his first three appearances.
Barco is technically on Triple-A Indianapolis' 60-day injured list, but once he's activated, he'll likely remain in the FCL or head to Single-A Bradenton. The 44th overall pick in the 2022 First-Year Player Draft, Barco didn't make his professional debut last season while he recovered from Tommy John surgery.
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