The Pittsburgh Pirates have finalized their Opening Day roster heading into the 2026 season. Their pitching staff is the strongest portion of their roster. They have so many pitchers that top prospect Hunter Barco is starting the year in the bullpen. While many want him in the rotation, putting him in the bullpen for now is a genius move by the Pirates.
There’s a good reason why fans want Barco in the rotation. The young southpaw became one of the Pirates’ best prospects after he pitched to the tune of a 2.81 ERA, 3.54 FIP, and 1.20 WHIP between Double-A Altoona and Triple-A Indianapolis. He had a healthy 27.8% strikeout rate and allowed only five home runs in his 99.1 innings of work. That resulted in a 0.45 HR/9 ratio. Barco’s 11.7% walk rate may not jump off the page, but most of his struggles with free passes came at Triple-A, where they use the fully automated strikezone. His BB% at Indianapolis was 13%, compared to only 7.4% at Altoona. The lefty also pitched three scoreless frames in the Major Leagues, where he struck out three opponents and didn’t allow any free passes.
Barco ranks as a top ten prospect in the Pirates’ system. MLB Pipeline even ranks him among the top 100 prospects going into 2026, rating him at #96. The left-hander also added a bevy of new pitches to his arsenal, including a sinker, sweeper, and change-up. Some may want Barco in the rotation over Mlodzinski, especially given that Mlodzinski struggled as a starter last year. However, Barco can be an important force out of the pen for the Pirates.
Mlodzinski struggled the second time through the order last year as a starter. Barco can help him get through a lineup a second and third time. He can also alleviate some of Mlodzinski’s workload. The right-hander hasn’t been a full-time starting pitcher since 2022, when he was at Double-A Altoona. However, Mlodzinski isn’t the only Pirates starting pitcher Barco can help out in 2026.
While Braxton Ashcraft has had a huge career rebound, he barely pitched from 2018 through 2022. 2025 marked the very first season he pitched at least 100 innings, tallying 118 frames between Triple-A and the Major Leagues. The Pirates are likely limiting Ashcraft to 150-160 innings in 2026. That’s where Barco can help take some of the load off of Ashcraft’s season. He can come in and relieve Ashcraft and shorten his starts, or skip his spot in the rotation, giving Barco a spot start.
The Pirates will also likely limit Bubba Chandler’s workload. Chandler is one of the best pitching prospects in baseball, but 2025 was his first season with 120+ innings pitched. He racked up 131.1 innings between Indy and MLB. Chandler will have a more expanded workload than Ashcraft, given he’s never missed an extended amount of time in his career, and Chandler has pitched at least 110 innings each of the last three seasons. However, the Pirates won’t have to worry about overworking Chandler, with Barco able to make occasional starts and serve as a long reliever out of the bullpen.
The Pirates can also better manage lefty-righty splits between Barco and Mlodzinski. If the Pirates are facing a lefty-heavy/righty-killer lineup, Barco can relieve Mlodzinski after he goes through the order the first time. Likewise, if they’re facing a righty-heavy/lefty-killer lineup, Mlodzinski can go deeper into games and let Barco come in later.
While Barco starting games is what most fans likely want to see, the Pirates can better manage Mlodzinski, Ashcraft, and (to a lesser extent) Chandler’s workloads throughout 2026 with the left-handed in the bullpen. That could be more valuable than starting him every five days, where he only goes 5-6 innings. After all, Barco himself is coming off his first season, where he pitched 100+ innings. Putting him in this role gives the Pirates a ton of flexibility, more than if he were in the rotation.
