3 Pirates pitching prospects who became more important after Jared Jones' injury

2. Hunter Barco

Another second-round pick that could be important to the Pirates in 2025 now, given Jared Jones’ injury, is left-hander Hunter Barco. Barco’s 2024 season was a breakout campaign where he spent most of the season at Greensboro but ended his year at Altoona. Thanks to an extremely promising spring training, Barco might play an important role in the first half of the year for the Bucs.

Last season, Barco pitched to the tune of a 3.27 ERA, 3.29 FIP, and 1.06 WHIP in 66.2 innings. He had an outstanding 31.3% K%, with an 8.3% walk rate and 0.68 HR/9. Barco had the 34th-best strikeout rate among pitchers who started at least 15 games in the minor leagues last season. However, only 29 pitchers started that many games with a K% above 30% and BB% below 10%. 

According to both MLB Pipeline and Baseball America, Barco was sitting around 92-94 MPH with his sinker last season, but in spring training this season, he was up to 95.9 MPH on average, topping out at 97.1. He only pitched 2.2 innings in spring training, but hopefully he can maintain that velocity spike into the regular season (and into starts). Last season, there were only 59 pitchers at the Major League level whose sinkers averaged 95+ MPH (min. 50 plate appearances). His sinker also has better ride through the zone and more arm-side run than most other pitchers who regularly throw sinkers.

Along with a sinker, he’ll mix in a slider around the low/mid-80s, a mid-80s splitter, and a changeup with similar velocity. Between his two offspeed pitches, his splitter is the better offering. On top of that, Barco has a low arm angle, adding a layer of deception to his pitches. The command has steadily improved, but according to Pipeline, he will need to continue to work on his strike-throwing ability with his splitter.

Like Ashcraft, Barco has had Tommy John surgery before. He underwent the procedure in his final college season in ‘22. 2023 was mostly a lost year, given his recovery, as he only tossed 18.1 innings. The Pirates then shut him down for most of the second half of 2024. While he is still building up his workload, his age (will be 24 for all of 2025) and rising prospect status could get him an early season look this year.