Altoona opens a six-game series against the Chesapeake Baysox in Bowie tonight, and the Curve will send Hunter Barco to the mound. Barco entered the season ranked as the seventh-best Pirates prospect, but the 6-4 left-hander has started the season with thirteen scoreless innings in three outings, including a five-inning stint last Wednesday in which he struck out six – including four in a row – and gave up just one hit and one walk. For the season, he has given up just six hits and two walks with fourteen strikeouts.
The Pirates drafted Barco in the second round in 2022 despite the fact that he’d just had Tommy John surgery and would miss a year of action.
