Hunter Barco’s ugly outing may have quietly saved the Pirates bullpen

There are going to be plenty of fans angry at the way the Pittsburgh Pirates handled Hunter Barco on Monday night. On the surface, it’s understandable why.

The rookie left-hander got called up from Triple-A Indianapolis, endured a travel nightmare that included multiple flights and a five-to-six hour delay in Atlanta, arrived at PNC Park barely 25 minutes before first pitch, and was then asked to cover nearly five innings in an eventual 11-7 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.

The results were ugly. Barco allowed five earned runs in 4.2 innings, and his ERA ballooned to 7.71. But the outrage directed at manager Don Kelly misses the larger picture entirely — because frankly, Barco may have quietly saved the Pirates bullpen.

Hunter Barco, freshly called up from Triple-A Indianapolis, fell on the sword in Pirates' loss to Cardinals

The Pirates entered Tuesday in an unsustainable pitching stretch. They had already burned through nine innings in a bullpen game the day before, four innings the game before that, and another 4.1 innings prior to that. That’s 17.1 bullpen innings over just three days — all while navigating a brutal stretch of 13 consecutive games without a day off and 23 games in 24 days.

At some point, somebody has to absorb damage for the greater good of the pitching staff. On Tuesday, that somebody became Barco.

Once Braxton Ashcraft allowed six runs and failed to escape the fifth inning, the Pirates faced a choice. They could either burn through four or five more relievers trying to chase a game they were already losing badly, or they could ask Barco to wear it and preserve the bullpen for the remaining five games of the homestand.

Kelly chose the latter, and honestly, it was the correct baseball decision.

Fans hate the phrase “eat innings” because it often sounds like surrender. But every manager over the course of a 162-game season has games where the priority shifts from winning that specific night to protecting the roster for the next week. Monday became one of those nights the moment Ashcraft spiraled.

Barco understood that assignment. He competed despite impossible circumstances. This wasn’t a rested starter working on a normal schedule; this was a rookie reliever/starter hybrid scrambling through airports all day before being thrown directly into major league action against a Cardinals lineup that already had momentum.

And to Barco’s credit, he never hid from accountability afterward. He admitted the results weren’t good enough while still recognizing the importance of protecting the rest of the pitching staff.

There’s value in having pitchers willing to take on difficult assignments that nobody else wants. Long relievers and optionable young arms often become the invisible backbone of surviving a marathon season, especially for teams trying to manage workloads carefully in April and May. The Pirates don’t get through this stretch without somebody sacrificing a stat line.

On Tuesday night, Barco fell on the sword for the rest of the bullpen. The box score looks ugly, but the outing may end up helping the Pirates win games later this week.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow