Hunter Barco, MiLB’s No. 82 Prospect, Selected by Pittsburgh

INDIANAPOLIS – The Pittsburgh Pirates today selected the contract of left-handed pitcher Hunter Barco, who is currently rated as MiLB’s No. 10 left-handed pitching prospect and the No. 82 prospect overall according to MLB Pipeline. The southpaw is set to become the ninth former Indianapolis Indian and eighth member of the 2025 squad to make his major league debut this season, following right-handed pitcher Thomas Harrington, infielder Tsung-Che Cheng, outfielder Matt Gorski, right-handed pitchers Braxton Ashcraft, Cam Sanders and Bubba Chandler, infielder Cam Devanney and catcher Rafael Flores.

Barco, 24, began the season with Double-A Altoona and tossed a franchise-record 25.2 straight scoreless innings in six starts before being promoted to Indianapolis on May 6. At the time of his promotion, he was the only Double-A pitcher with at least 15.0 innings pitched to not allow a run while logging the second-lowest batting average (.131, 11-for-84) and OPS against (.378).

In 21 appearances (17 starts) with the Indians, Barco has pitched to a 3-1 record with a 3.79 ERA (31er/73.2ip), 82 punchouts and a .215 batting average against (59-for-274). Opposing right-handed hitters in Triple-A are hitting just .184 (33-for-179) against Barco, which is the second-lowest average for a Triple-A southpaw with at least 150 at bats against right-handed hitters this season.

The 6-foot-4 lefty had a stretch of three starts from June 24-July 5 in which he tossed 6.0 innings in each outing and allowed just one run over that span, good for a 0.50 ERA (1er/18.0ip) to go with 20 strikeouts and a 0.61 WHIP. He became the first Indians pitcher to record three straight starts of 6.0-plus innings pitched while allowing just one run or less in that span since Frank Duncan allowed no runs across three such starts from Aug. 12-23, 2016.

Since the beginning of the second half on June 24, Barco has allowed one run or fewer in 11 of his 15 appearances. Across this span, he ranks among Triple-A hurlers with at least 50.0 innings pitched in home runs allowed (T-4th, 4), batting average against (7th, .205), ERA (10th, 3.17) and OPS against (10th, .626).

Barco was selected by Pittsburgh in the second round (44th overall) of the 2022 First-Year Player Draft out of the University of Florida (Gainesville, Fla.). He was the first left-handed pitcher selected by Pittsburgh out of college in the first two rounds since Daniel Moskos was selected fourth overall in the 2007 First-Year Player Draft.

Indianapolis’ first-time callups are presented by Franciscan Health