A look inside Pirates pitching prospect Hunter Barco's impressive 2024 season

The Pittsburgh Pirates have a ton of young pitchers, with guys like Mitch Keller, Paul Skenes, and Jared Jones carrying the Pirates' big league rotation. Below them, you have a myriad of young pitchers performing well throughout the system. One of those young and talented minor leaguers is left-hander Hunter Barco. The Pirates took Barco in the second round of the 2022 draft, and since returning from Tommy John surgery last season, he's been even better than what many were expecting.

Barco pitched to a 3.34 ERA, 3.59 FIP, and 1.10 WHIP through 62 innings for Greensboro. He struck out 30.4% of opponents with a respectable 8.7% walk rate. Barco induced plenty of ground balls with a 46.5% GB%, and also limited fly balls with an FB% rate under 30% at 29.2%. This has helped him keep up a solid 0.73 HR/9. The southpaw's first start at Altoona went extremely well. He only pitched three innings, but allowed a single base runner via a hit, didn't walk a batter, and struck out five.

Biggest change that's propelled Pirates prospect Hunter Barco

However, the biggest development has been Barco's velocity. Both MLB Pipeline and Baseball America reported that Barco sat around 91-92 MPH. When Barco played for Bradenton last season, that's where he was sitting. His two-seam sinker averaged out at 90.6 MPH.

But in his most recent outings, Barco has sat 93-94 MPH, topping out at 95. This isn't a complete fluke, either. Barco also sat at a similar velocity in the Spring Breakout prospect showcase, averaging 93.6 MPH with his two-seamer in the event.

93-95 MPH will certainly play, with his command. Barco also has a deceptive arm slot, throwing from a low arm angle. This also helps his slider play up. The young lefty will also mix in both a changeup and splitter, giving him a wide variety of pitches he can throw with accuracy.

Barco's breakout has been fun to watch. If he continues to dominate at Altoona, he'll definitely be someone to watch, assuming the Pirates don't trade him. Even though the Pirates have a myriad of high-end pitching talent both in the system and in the big leagues, Barco could still force himself into a future Pirates starting rotation.