Pirates' Hunter Barco Continues Great Form

PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Pirates left-handed pitching prospect Hunter Barco is getting back to his best form in 2025.

Barco, pitching for Triple-A Indianapolis, dominated in his most recent outing vs. the Louisville Bats, the Triple-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. He allowed just one hit and three walks with no runs over six innings and posting seven strikeouts in a 3-1 defeat on July 5.

This marked Barco's third straight strong start at Triple-A, excelling in two starts vs. the Omaha Storm Chasers, the Triple-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals.

Barco threw six scoreless innings in a 9-1 win over Omaha on June 24, allowing five hits and a walk, while posting six strikeouts.

He then allowed only one hit, a solo home run in the 3-2 win over Omaha, while hitting a batter and posting seven strikeouts over six innings.

Barco struggled in his first six starts at Triple-A this season, allowing 12 earned runs over 19.2 innings pitched for a 5.49 ERA.

He has since found his best form, just one earned run allowed over 18.0 innings pitched for a 0.50 ERA.

Barco had a sensational start to his season with Double-A Altoona, with a 1-0 record in five starts while allowing no runs, nine hits, three hit batters and four walks, while posting 30 strikeouts and an opposing batting average of .132 in the month of April.

He dominated again in his last Double-A start on May 3 vs. the Akron Rubberducks, the Double-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians. He allowed just two hits, three walks and no runs, while posting five strikeouts over five innings.

Barco set a franchise record with the longest scoreless inning streak to start a season at 25.2 innings pitched.

He earned his promotion to Indianapolis after that start vs. Akron. He allowed two hits, six walks and one earned run in his first Triple-A start against the Columbus Clippers on May 9, the Triple-A affiliate of the Guardians.

Barco left early from his start against Louisville on May 15 after just 23 pitches, but avoided a serious injury, suffering a a mild muscle strain in his left shoulder.

MLB Pipeline ranks Barco as the No. 3 prospect in the Pirates system, just behind fellow Indianapolis pitcher in right-hander Bubba Chandler at No. 1 and High-A Greensboro shortstop Konnor Griffin at No. 2. They also rank him No. 80 amongst all prospects.

The Pirates took Barco in the second round of the 2022 MLB Draft out of Florida with the No. 44 overall pick.