Hunter Barco has been worth the wait so far.
The Pittsburgh Pirates drafted Barco in the second round of the 2022 draft, despite the left-handed pitcher coming off Tommy John surgery. I wrote about Barco in this week’s article drop, detailing what there was to like about the now 23-year-old pitcher. He added to that with his start on Wednesday morning.
Barco pitched four innings for Greensboro, allowing one run on five hits. He struck out four and walked one. On the season, Barco now has an 0.82 ERA in 11 innings across three starts. He has struck out 14 and walked three.
The Pirates are slowly building up his innings totals in his first full season of Tommy John, and Barco continues to look great in the time he gets on the mound.
PIRATES PROSPECT WATCH
INDIANAPOLIS won 1-0, led by a combined three hit effort finished with five no-hit innings from the bullpen.
- LHP Cam Alldred made the start, tossing four shutout innings. He allowed three hits, two walks, and struck out six.
- RHP Carmen Mlodzinski pitched 1.2 shutout innings, allowing no hits, two walks, and striking out one.
- RHP Kyle Nicolas pitched a perfect inning with one strikeout.
- C Carter Bins went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI.
- 2B Nick Gonzales went 1-for-4 with his tenth double of the season.
ALTOONA lost 5-0 to Bowie.
- 3B Joe Perez went 1-for-3 with a walk in his return to Double-A.
- RHP Justin Meis threw three innings, allowing one run on two hits, with a walk and two strikeouts.
- RHP Eddy Yean went 2.1 shutout frames, with one hit, three walks, and three strikeouts.
- CF Matt Fraizer went 1-for-4.
- C Wyatt Hendrie went 1-for-3.
GREENSBORO won 8-6 thanks to a six run fourth inning, and strong pitching from Hunter Barco.
- SS Termarr Johnson went 2-for-3 with a walk and two RBIs. He also stole his first base of the season. Johnson is off to a slow start this season, batting .167 with a .521 OPS. Today’s game was one of his best.
- 3B Charles McAdoo went 2-for-5 with an RBI.
- C Shawn Ross went 1-for-3 with a two RBI double in the fourth that helped to break the game open.
- 2B Mitch Jebb went 2-for-5 with an RBI.
- LF Sammy Siani went 1-for-3 with a walk and a run.
BRADENTON won on a walk off three RBI double in the bottom of the 12th inning, after giving up two runs in the top half of the frame.
- SS Javier Rivas went 1-for-5, hitting the game winning double with the bases loaded.
- 1B Juan Jerez drew a two out walk to help set up the double.
- PH Jack Herman also walked with two outs, loading the bases for Rivas.
- RHP Hung-Leng Chang made the start, throwing four shutout innings with two hits, a walk, and three strikeouts.
- RHP Landon Tomkins pitched two perfect frames, striking out one.
STATCAST HEROES
Cam Alldred picked up 12 whiffs on the day, getting five from his slider in six swings. He had three from the four-seam, three from the changeup, and one from the sinker. He had a combined 41% called and swinging strike rate on all of his pitches today. STATS
I mentioned Rivas in this week’s Statcast Heroes as a guy who has been hitting the ball hard with no results. His double was 107.5 MPH. STATS
TOMORROW’S SCHEDULE
- Indianapolis sends top prospect RHP Paul Skenes to the mound at 6:35 PM EST.
- Altoona will go with the other top 100 pitching prospect in the minors, with RHP Bubba Chandler getting the start at 6:35 PM.
- At 6:30 PM, Greensboro will throw RHP Patrick Reilly, who has some of the best velocity on their roster.
- Bradenton adds to the velocity day by throwing RHP Antwone Kelly at 6:30 PM. Kelly hit 98 MPH last start, giving the Pirates four starters tomorrow who can hit 98 or higher.
