PITTSBURGH – The Pirates are planning to select the contract of left-hander Hunter Barco ahead of their series against the Reds that begins Tuesday night at Great American Ball Park, a source told MLB.com. The Pirates have yet to confirm the move.
Barco, 24, is the team’s No. 4 prospect and the 82nd-ranked prospect in the game, according to MLB Pipeline. He was due to be eligible for the Rule 5 Draft this offseason, so the Pirates would have needed to add him to the 40-man roster anyway to protect him.
This way, Barco will get an opportunity to get his feet wet in the Majors and gain valuable experience ahead of next year, when he is expected to compete for starts.
Barco started his season in outstanding fashion with Double-A Altoona, making six starts without allowing a run. That warranted a promotion to Triple-A Indianapolis in May, where he struck out 25.4% of his batters faced. His walk rate increased at the higher level (5.1 per nine innings, from 2.5 with Altoona), but he still posted a 3.79 ERA over 21 appearances (17 starts) with Indianapolis.
Between his two stops in the Minors, Barco posted a 4-1 record with a 2.81 ERA and 10.5 strikeouts per nine innings over 99 1/3 frames.
Barco pitches off his sinker, which has averaged 93 mph with Indianapolis and held hitters to a .194 batting average against. His slider and splitter are swing-and-miss offerings, getting whiff rates of 38.7% and 39.3%, respectively. The splitter is mostly used against right-handers, and he’ll also pepper in a cutter, mostly to lefty swingers.
Barco is the latest in what has been a list of highly rated pitching prospects who have been promoted by the Pirates this season. Bubba Chandler, the No. 7 prospect in the game, has the highest profile of the group, but rookies Braxton Ashcraft and Mike Burrows have been contributors in the rotation and bullpen for most of the season. Thomas Harrington also debuted earlier this year, when he was still on the Top 100 list.
The Pirates are concluding their season with a six-game road trip starting Tuesday. The first three are in Cincinnati, and they’ll wrap the season in Atlanta against the Braves.