Pirates face intriguing decision on young southpaw's 2026 role

The Pirates' pitching factory continues to produce big-league arms, as left-hander Hunter Barco made his MLB debut (and was the winning pitcher) in Tuesday night's 4-2 win in Cincinnati.

The 2022 second-round pick began this season with Double-A Altoona, where he made six scoreless starts, posting a 0.70 WHIP and a 36.2% strikeout rate. He wasn't as dominant following his early-May promotion to Triple-A Indianapolis, but he still posted strong numbers, including a 3.79 ERA and 10.0 K/9.

Barco was used out of the bullpen on Tuesday, as he was in four of his final five outings with Indianapolis. That's in line with how the Pirates have utilized most of their young pitching prospects this year, most notably Bubba Chandler and Braxton Ashcraft. Those two seem to have made their way into the Pirates' starting rotation, but it's fair to wonder when—or if—Barco does the same.

Will the Pirates deploy Hunter Barco as a starter or reliever in 2026?

He has almost exclusively been used as a starter dating back to his time at the University of Florida, but he has yet to sustain a full starter's workload. The left-hander had just underwent Tommy John surgery when the Pirates drafted him 44th overall in 2022, and the COVID pandemic cost him much of his freshman season. All told, his current innings total (100.1 between three levels) is comfortably his highest as a professional, and represents the most he's pitched since 2021, when he threw 83 innings as a sophomore.

His role could also be determined by his platoon splits. He posted pretty heavy reverse splits in the minor leagues this year, meaning he actually performed better against right-handed hitters than left-handed hitters:

This would make him an ideal fit for the rotation. Lefties are often brought in from the bullpen for the sole purpose of getting left-handed hitters out, and he would likely face a far greater percentage of right-handed hitters if he started (or, at the very least, pitched multiple innings). If the Pirates expect this trend to continue, they may continue gradually stretching him out to start.

Another factor in deciding Barco's role could be the club's roster construction. Throughout the season, the Pirates have nearly gutted their entire 40-man roster of left-handed pitchers. Prior to Barco's addition to the 40-man, its sole southpaw was reliever Evan Sisk, who was acquired at this year's trade deadline and optioned to make room for Barco on the active roster.

Ben Cherington traded away two lefties at the deadline (Bailey Falter and Caleb Ferguson). Every other left-hander aside from Sisk and Barco who pitched for the Pirates this year (Andrew Heaney, Ryan Borucki, Joey Wentz, Genesis Cabrera, Tim Mayza) was designated for assignment or waived, and is no longer with the organization. There's only one lefty who has any real chance of being added to the 40-man roster to be protected from the Rule 5 Draft (2021 second-rounder Anthony Solometo). As things currently stand, Sisk (who is strictly a reliever) and Barco are the team's only southpaws expected to contribute at the major league level in 2026.

Cherington has made it a point to add a veteran left-handed starter every winter in recent years (Heaney, Martín Pérez, Marco Gonzales, Rich Hill, Jose Quintana, Tyler Anderson), and the team may be expected to do so again, given the club's current starting options. Given how PNC Park is tailored to benefit lefties, it would make sense for the Pirates to include at least one in their talented rotation.

The Pirates have an interesting and important decision to make regarding Hunter Barco's role in 2026.

He hasn't pitched enough to be able to survive an entire season in an MLB starting rotation, but his splits suggest that he profiles better as a starter than as a reliever. With just a single big-league inning under his belt, he's not a guarantee to break camp with the Pirates next year, but he's obviously talented enough (he's currently No. 82 on MLB Pipeline's top 100) that he should be able to make an impact at some point.

Despite the team's many flaws, they've become one of the very best pitching development organizations in the sport. Fans shouldn't be concerned with how the Pirates decide to manage Barco, but rather curious to see what path the club takes with him as they (hopefully) strive to make meaningful steps toward being a competitive ballclub in 2026.