Around the Curve | With Health at 100%, Hunter Barco Shows Potential in Spring Breakout Game

This story is part of the series 2025 Spring Break: Young Bucs Edition, a compilation of reports from Bradenton leading up to Opening Day.

CLEARWATER, Fla. – When Hunter Barco embarked on his 2024 campaign, he had one primary goal: a healthy season for his left arm.

The now 24-year-old was entering his first full season post Tommy John surgery and wanted to prove to himself, and his employers, that he could survive the season without an injury scare.

Despite his arm feeling great throughout the season, which Hunter considered a success, it was a left leg injury that cut the left-hander’s season short. His offseason was spent training in his home state of Florida, making the necessary adjustments to prevent it from happening again.

“I’ve been working on loading up my glute more to the inside of the leg, which kind of caused the injury,” Barco said. “By focusing on my hip rotation and my glute, it has helped with velocity.”

Barco made just two starts with Altoona after making 16 turns in the rotation for High-A Greensboro in 2024. He noticed the pain in his planting leg after a start in Erie and was shut down for the remainder of the year out of caution.

Now back to 100% health, his velocity increase was on full display on Friday afternoon, topping out at 97 and sitting 95-96 in the Spring Breakout game. He tossed two innings, recording one strikeout and allowing just one hit to Phillies No. 3 prospect Justin Crawford, a triple that led to a run on a wild pitch.

It was the second time Barco appeared in the Pirates Spring Breakout game, after tossing two scoreless innings with a strikeout in last year’s event. He was the only Pirates pitcher to toss multiple frames in the seven-inning contest against the Orioles and topped out at 95 in that outing, sitting 93-94 with his sinker.

Barco, who was selected in the second round of the 2022 MLB Draft out of Florida, is a strong candidate to begin the season in Altoona’s rotation. He has tossed 84.1 innings over his three seasons as a Pirates minor leaguer, including just four with the Curve a season ago.

Along with the sinker, Barco is working on adding pitches to his arsenal, a tactic that will help his ability to get hitters out as a starter at the next level. The slider is his main secondary pitch, accounting for 11 of the 32 pitches thrown on Friday.

He also uses a splitter and talked about developing his changeup this offseason. He threw the changeup three times on Friday, using it to strike out Phillies top hitting prospect Aidan Miller in a 2-2 count.

As Barco sets sights on the season ahead, he did reflect on the opportunity to play in the Breakout game for the second year in a row.

“Its cool to represent the organization as the next wave up, and I’m excited to get out there and compete,” Barco said.

Curve Cuts

• The Phillies defeated the Pirates 5-3 at BayCare Ballpark in Clearwater in the Spring Breakout game. The Pirates left 12 runners on base in the loss and recorded just four hits.
• Altoona’s 2024 Pitcher of the Year Bubba Chandler had what was perhaps the most impressive performance of the day. Chandler tossed two perfect innings in the start for the Pirates, striking out four of the six batters he faced. He flirted with 100 mph on his fastball, topping officially at 99.9 mph. Chandler earned the save in last season’s Spring Breakout game against the Orioles, but he joked with media postgame that starting this game was much better than relieving.
• Tsung-Che Cheng was the Pirates’ most productive hitter, recording two of the team’s four hits. Cheng drew a walk in the third, knocked an RBI-single in the fifth, and added a single and a stolen base in the ninth. Cheng has spent the majority of the last two seasons in Altoona’s infield and is competing for a spot with Indianapolis this spring. He remains on the Pirates’ 40-man roster and could be an option to make the jump to Pittsburgh with the right opportunity this season.
• Anthony Solometo followed Chandler and tossed 1.1 innings in the Breakout game. His first inning didn’t go as planned, allowing two runs on three hits with a strikeout before leaving the game. He did return to toss a scoreless fourth inning with two strikeouts. Perhaps the biggest takeaway from his performance was his velocity, which was up to 93 mph and above 90 mph consistently.
• Other Curve alums to appear in the game include Sammy Siani, Nick Dombkowski, and Jaden Woods. Dombkowski retired both batters he faced after taking over for Solometo in the third, while Woods tossed the eighth inning for the Pirates, allowing one run on two hits with a walk and a strikeout. Siani got the start in right field and finished the game 0-for-5.
• Wilber Dotel is a name to watch for Altoona this season. The right-hander tossed the seventh inning for Pittsburgh and topped out at 99 mph on his sinker. He also showed a cutter and changeup, allowing his lone hit on a home run by Carson DeMartini off the cutter. Dotel set career highs in starts (25), innings pitched (106.1), and strikeouts (106) with Greensboro last season.

Stay tuned to the Around the Curve blog all week for our 2025 Spring Break: Young Bucs Edition series, with Jon Mozes and Preston Shoemaker reporting from Bradenton.