Pirates keep top-100 prospect on Opening Day roster

The Pittsburgh Pirates aren't keeping Konnor Griffin on the Opening Day roster.

They are, though, keeping a different top-100 prospect that wasn't a given to make the club out of Spring Training.

On Monday, beat reporter Colin Beazley posted on X that Hunter Barco has made the Opening Day team.

Barco is ranked No. 96 in the sport among prospects by MLB Pipeline.

The 6-foot-4, 25-year old left-hander made his MLB debut with two scoreless outings at the end of the 2025 season.

He's originally a second-round pick by the Pirates in the 2022 MLB Draft after playing collegiately for the Florida Gators.

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This spring, Barco pitched 9.1 innings and allowed three earned runs (2.89 ERA) while striking out 12 hitters. The main concern point would be his six walks in 9.1 innings, but evidently not enough of a concern to prevent Barco from starting the year in the majors.

Last season in his 3.0 MLB innings, Barco allowed three hits, struck out three and didn't walk anyone.

At Triple-A Indianapolis in 2025, Barco started in 17 of his 21 appearances and had a 3.79 ERA. It seems, though, like his most likely path to innings in the early going with Pittsburgh might be out of the bullpen.

Pittsburgh has already made clear that the Pirates' starting rotation is set to be Paul Skenes, Mitch Keller, Carmen Mlodzinski, Braxton Ashcraft and Bubba Chandler.

That leaves Barco as a young arm with upside in relief, potentially still a starter down the road but for now a lanky lefty to trot in and get outs from the bullpen.

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