Pirates Prospect Update: Hunter Barco returns, Esmerlyn Valdez mashes, Konnor Griffin

A couple of weeks ago, Hunter Barco hit the injured list with mild muscle strain in his shoulder. At first it was alarming when he was pulled from the first inning in his last start, but it luckily turned out to be minor.

On Saturday, Barco was activated off the injured list and made his third Triple-A start. He went three scoreless innings, striking out seven and allowing just one hit and three walks. That lowered his ERA on the season to 0.81, along with a 12.69 K/9 and 2.43 FIP. He has been incredible this season, even making records in the minor leagues.

Once he resolves the walk issue, he may get the opportunity to make his major league debut. MLB Pipeline has him listed as the fifth-best prospect in the organization and 97th in all of baseball. His emergence as the top southpaw prospect in the Pirates' farm system is massive for this team, especially since Andrew Heaney is likely to be dealt at the deadline.

Pirates Prospect Update: Hunter Barco makes first start off injury, Konnor Griffin shows key progression, and Esmerlyn Valdez continues to mash.

Konnor Griffin has been outstanding to open up his professional career, and somehow he just got even better. To begin his career, Griffin has consistently put balls in play and rarely walked. It has been working, too, as his wRC+ got up to 141 with eight home runs and 25 stolen bases. His OPS reached .882 as well.

His numbers have been incredible, but prior to this last week, Griffin had walked just six times. Across his last five games, Griffin walked seven times, getting up to 13 on the season. 13 is not that crazy, but the fact that he is starting to incorporate that into his game at such a rapid pace is helping him get on base even more. Doing this should help Griffin get to the next level quicker now. His promotion to Greensboro feels inevitable at this point.

Speaking of Greensboro, Esmerlyn Valdez has been a star for the Grasshoppers, and he is not slowing down. He leads the South Atlantic League with 15 home runs. Since May 21, he has slugged four. It feels like any day now he could be promoted to Altoona.

On the season, Valdez has posted a 162 wRC+ with an OPS of .961 and 37 runs driven in. He adds 10 doubles as well, getting his slugging up to .590. The 21-year-old slugger is making this farm system look a lot stronger. This organization lacks offensive prospects, and Valdez emerging is helping to change that.