Pirates Must Either Give Hunter Barco More Chances or Send Him to Triple-A as Starter
The bullpen is largely unfamiliar territory for Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Hunter Barco.
In his minor-league career, 47 of Barco’s 54 career appearances came as a starting pitcher. Four of those seven relief outings came late last season with Triple-A Indianapolis, when the Pirates were getting him some exposure to a relief role in preparation of his MLB debut.
The Pirates promoted Barco from Indianapolis at the end of last season, and the left-hander made a pair of scoreless appearances and earned the win against the Reds in Cincinnati in his MLB debut.
Although he was in competition for a spot in the starting rotation to start the season, Barco made the team as part of the bullpen.
“It’s been a little bit different, but it’s still baseball,” Barco said about his new role. “Just got to work on your body and know how to get it ready during different times. But at the end of the day, it’s still just trying to throw the ball across the plate.”
One of the biggest differences for Barco has found is learning to be ready at a moment’s notice instead of going through a typical starter’s routine.
“It’s a lot quicker,” Barco said of the ramp-up process. “You get most of your stuff done before the game then do everything you can to stay loose during the game. But once the adrenaline in the game comes in you really don’t have to think about it too much.”
Barco was tested in a big spot in his first appearance of the year. In the second game of the season against the Mets in New York, Barco was handed the ball in the 11th inning trying to preserve the Pirates’ one-run lead. Instead, Barco walked Jorge Polanco, which gave the Mets two runners on for Luis Robert Jr., who hit a walk-off three run home run to left.
Three days later, Barco again struggled. He threw a scoreless seventh inning against the Reds in Cincinnati but surrendered a pair of solo home runs in the eighth.
Barco’s next appearance came when he took the mound against the Baltimore Orioles last Saturday, which was his first time pitching at PNC Park.
“To be out there on the mound for the first time was really exciting,” he said.
Barco had better results in his third appearance than he did in his first two. Despite three walks, he 25-year-old tossed 2.1-scoreless innings innings and helped the Pirates preserve a 3-2 win.
“Trust my stuff. Know my stuff’s good enough to be here,” Barco said on the biggest difference. “Obviously not the results I want the first two games. Just keep on building off of positive stuff and just keep on going.”
But since then, the Pirates haven’t gone back to Barco in a game.
Part of the reason is the bullpen construction. In addition to having two left-handed options in Mason Montgomery and Gregory Soto, the Pirates also have a bulk option in José Urquidy, who like Barco is capable of providing length.
But the Pirates need to find ways to use Barco in certain situations or else it would make more sense to send him back to Indianapolis and stretch him out as a starter again.
Barco established himself as a top 100 prospect — currently ranked 89th by MLB Pipeline — as a starting pitcher with a strong track record in the minor leagues. Combined between three seasons in the minors, he’s 8-5 with a 3.04 ERA with 227 strikeouts in 183.2 innings.
While Barco returning to the rotation is possible, and perhaps inevitable, his focus right now is to do his job, if and when his name is called.
“My main focus is go out and get outs whenever my name’s called. Whatever’s gonna happen is gonna happen. The only thing that matters is us winning ball games”
More about:Pirates