The Pittsburgh Pirates will add to their collection of highly touted rookie pitchers on Tuesday when they call up left-hander Hunter Barco from Triple-A Indianapolis, a source confirmed on Monday to Roundtable Sports.
The 24-year-old left-hander will join the Pirates in Cincinnati for the start of a three-game series against the Reds.
It was not immediately clear how the Pirates plan to utilize Barco over the last six games of the season. He made 23 starts and four relief appearances combined this year for Indianapolis and Double-A Altoona.
The Pirates have been using fellow rookie pitchers Braxton Ashcraft, Mike Burrows, and Bubba Chandler as both starters and bulk-inning relievers.
"We felt in some cases that that was just a natural next step in their development, that they would develop more doing that than they would by finishing out the year as starters in Triple-A," Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said.
MLB Pipeline ranks Barco as the Pirates' fourth-best prospect behind shortstop/center fielder Konnor Griffin, Chandler, and right-hander Seth Hernandez. The website also has Barco as the No. 82 prospect in baseball.
Barco checks in at No. 6 in Baseball America's rankings of the Pirates organization.
Barco started this season by pitching 25 scoreless innings over six starts for Altoona and compiling a 1-0 record. With Indianapolis, he was 3-1 with a 3.79 ERA in 21 games (17 starts).
The Pirates selected Barco in the second round of the 2022 amateur draft from the University of Florida and signed him to a $1,525,000 bonus. He has an 8-5 record and 3.04 ERA over three minor league seasons in 54 games (47 starts).
Barco sustained a stress fracture in his lower leg last season with Altoona, which limited him to two starts following his promotion from High-A Greensboro. However, Barco came back stronger this year and had 116 strikeouts in 99 1/3 minor-league innings, though he did issue 49 walks.
Barco will likely be a long shot to make the major league team out of spring training next year. However, he will get a chance to make an early impression.