Pirates Minor League Report: Top Left-Hander Barco Called Up to Majors
With the minor league season concluded, the Pirates called up their top left-handed pitching prospect and MLB’s No. 82 overall prospect, Hunter Barco, on Monday, Sept. 22. Per a report from Alex Stumpf of MLB.com, he’ll join the team ahead of their midweek series against the Cincinnati Reds, set to begin the following day.
The Pirates have yet to confirm the move and, as they don’t have any open spots on their 40-man roster, they’ll need to designate another player for assignment in a corresponding move.
Barco struck out two batters and allowed one run in two innings during his final Triple-A start last week.
A 2022 second round pick, he’s dealt with injuries to this point in his professional career, so the Pirates kept him on a close pitch count for much of the last month. Across 99.1 innings pitched this season between Double-A Altoona and Indianapolis, Barco put together a 2.81 ERA with 116 strikeouts.
Another noteworthy pitching performance came from right-hander Po-Yu Chen, who allowed one run in five innings (four strikeouts) during his third career appearance at Triple-A. To date, he has a 0.66 ERA with ten K’s in 13.2 innings with Indianapolis.
All-Stars Star
Esmerlyn Valdez, Konnor Griffin and Termarr Johnson all shined during Altoona’s opening playoff game. Valdez came a triple shy of the cycle, Johnson hit two doubles and Griffin, MLB’s No. 1 prospect, hit a double of his own. Griffin continued to get on base with gusto during the Curve’s season ending loss to Erie, picking up a single and two walks.
Last but not least, the Pirates may have found a diamond in the rough in the form of outfielder Nelson Velázquez. The Royals cut him in late May and, after spending a summer stint in the Mexican League, Pittsburgh signed him to a free agent deal in September. Across 18 games with Indianapolis Velázquez has five homers (including three last week) and a .284/.329/.554 slash line.
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