GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Pittsburgh Pirates reportedly intend to select the contract of former Florida southpaw Hunter Barco<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/hunter-barco/15091> from Triple-A Indianapolis in advance of their upcoming series against the Cincinnati Reds.
In line for his Major League Baseball debut, Barco’s first opportunity to toe the Big-League rubber will come when the Pirates begin their three-game set against the Reds on Tuesday, Sept. 23 at 6:40 p.m. ET. Pittsburgh has not yet announced the move or fashion in which Barco will be deployed, but has starting pitching vacancies listed for each of its last three games of the campaign – scheduled for Sept. 26-28 this upcoming weekend against the Braves in Atlanta.
When Barco officially debuts, he will mark Florida’s nation-leading 41st MLB player since 2008 alone – five more than the next-closest college programs (Arizona & LSU: 36). In all, the southpaw’s debut will represent the 89th in UF program history including the 37th MLB player under Head Coach Kevin O’Sullivan.
Just this season, four Florida Gators have been promoted to the MLB. Barco is the second to receive the call in the last week, as fellow left-hander Philip Abner<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/philip-abner/15488> debuted with Arizona<https://floridagators.com/news/2025/9/19/baseball-abner-poised-for-big-league-debut-with-arizona.aspx> on Friday, Sept. 19. Additionally, Jac Caglianone<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/jac-caglianone/16365> (June 3 – Kansas City Royals) and Brandon Sproat<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/brandon-sproat/15508> (Sept. 7 – New York Mets) made their MLB debuts earlier this season.
After being selected with the 44th overall pick<https://floridagators.com/story.aspx?filename=baseball-barco-chosen-44th-overall-by-pittsburgh&file_date=7-17-2022> in the second round of the 2022 MLB Draft by Pittsburgh, Barco spent the 2023-25 Minor League seasons progressing from Rookie ball through Triple-A. Across 183 2/3 frames, the Jacksonville, Fla. native worked to an 8-5 record, 3.04 ERA and 227-to-77 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Of his 54 appearances, 47 were starts.
In six Double-A starts this season, Barco was nearly perfect with 25 2/3 scoreless innings, 34 strikeouts and seven walks. He pitched to a respectable 3.79 ERA and 82-to-42 K-to-BB ratio in 73 2/3 frames upon being promoted to Triple-A.
During three seasons in Gainesville from 2020-22, Barco compiled a dominant 17-5 record with a pristine 3.18 ERA over 152 2/3 innings pitched. He finished with 189 career strikeouts and just 43 walks on his resume. Barco concluded his Gators career ranking second all-time in strikeouts per nine innings (11.14), fifth in fewest hits allowed per nine innings (7.19), sixth in winning percentage (.773, 17-5) and tied for seventh in opponent batting average (.213).
Below is a complete list of Gators to debut in the MLB since 2008.
Florida’s Nation-Leading 41 MLB Debuts Since 2008
Player
Drafted (Round)
MLB Debut
Team
1
Darren O’Day
Undrafted
March 31, 2008
Los Angeles Angels
2
Matt LaPorta
2007 (1st – 7th overall)
May 3, 2009
Cleveland Indians
3
Bryan Augenstein
2007 (7th)
May 13, 2009
Arizona Diamondbacks
4
Ryan Sadowski
2003 (12th)
June 28, 2009
San Francisco Giants
5
Nick Maronde
2011 (3rd)
September 2, 2012
Los Angeles Angels
6
Paco Rodriguez
2012 (2nd)
September 9, 2012
Los Angeles Dodgers
7
Mike Zunino
2012 (1st – 3rd overall)
June 12, 2013
Seattle Mariners
8
Kevin Chapman
2010 (4th)
August 9, 2013
Houston Astros
9
Matt den Dekker
2010 (5th)
August 29, 2013
New York Mets
10
Anthony DeSclafani
2011 (6th)
May 14, 2014
Miami Marlins
11
Cole Figueroa
2008 (6th)
May 16, 2014
Tampa Bay Rays
12
Preston Tucker
2012 (7th)
May 7, 2015
Houston Astros
13
Brian Johnson
2012 (1st – 31st overall)
July 21, 2015
Boston Red Sox
14
Nolan Fontana
2012 (2nd)
May 22, 2017
Los Angeles Angels
15
Austin Maddox
2012 (3rd)
June 17, 2017
Boston Red Sox
16
Harrison Bader
2015 (3rd)
July 25, 2017
St. Louis Cardinals
17
Bobby Poyner
2015 (14th)
March 31, 2018
Boston Red Sox
18
Justin Shafer
2014 (8th)
August 19, 2018
Toronto Blue Jays
19
Eric Hanhold
2015 (6th)
September 4, 2018
New York Mets
20
Richie Martin
2015 (1st – 20th overall)
March 28, 2019
Baltimore Orioles
21
Pete Alonso
2016 (2nd)
March 28, 2019
New York Mets
22
Shaun Anderson
2016 (3rd)
May 15, 2019
San Francisco Giants
23
A.J. Puk
2016 (1st – 6th overall)
August 21, 2019
Oakland Athletics
24
Brady Singer
2018 (1st – 18th overall)
July 25, 2020
Kansas City Royals
25
Dane Dunning
2016 (1st – 29th overall)
August 19, 2020
Chicago White Sox
26
Jonathan India
2018 (1st – 5th overall)
Thursday, April 1, 2021
Cincinnati Reds
27
Jackson Kowar
2018 (1st – 33rd overall)
Monday, June 7, 2021
Kansas City Royals
28
Taylor Gushue
2014 (4th)
Wednesday, June 30, 2021
Chicago Cubs
29
Kirby Snead
2016 (10th)
Wednesday, July 28, 2021
Toronto Blue Jays
30
Mark Kolozsvary
2017 (7th)
Wednesday, April 20, 2022
Cincinnati Reds
31
Alex Faedo
2017 (1st – 18th overall)
Wednesday, May 4, 2022
Detroit Tigers
32
Danny Young
2015 (8th)
Monday, May 9, 2022
Seattle Mariners
33
Dalton Guthrie
2017 (6th)
Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2022
Philadelphia Phillies
34
Jacob Young
2021 (7th)
Saturday, Aug. 26, 2023
Washington Nationals
35
Wyatt Langford
2023 (1st – 4th overall)
Thursday, Mar. 28, 2024
Texas Rangers
36
Christian Scott
2021 (5th)
Saturday, May. 4, 2024
New York Mets
37
Hurston Waldrep
2023 (1st – 24th overall)
Sunday, June 9, 2024
Atlanta Braves
38
Jac Caglianone<https://floridagators.com/sports/baseball/roster/jac-caglianone/16365>
2024 (1st – 6th overall)
Tuesday, June 3, 2025
Kansas City Royals
39
Brandon Sproat
2023 (2nd)
Sunday, September 7, 2025
New York Mets
40
Philip Abner
2023 (6th)
Friday, September 19, 2025
Arizona Diamondbacks
41
Hunter Barco
2022 (2nd)
TBD
Pittsburgh Pirates
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