Barco Earns Victory in MLB Debut with Pirates
Pittsburgh wasted no time calling Barco’s number, as he entered Tuesday night’s ballgame in Cincinnati to open the bottom of the sixth inning. The former UF ace navigated around a pair of hits to produce a scoreless frame in his MLB debut. Barco (1-0) was ultimately credited with the victory as the Pirates defeated the Reds, 4-2.
Barco marks 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 represents the 89th in UF program history including the 37th MLB player under Head Coach Kevin O’Sullivan.
✅ Big League Debut
✅ First Big League winHeck of a night for Hunter. pic.twitter.com/iVLKhJqH5N
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) September 24, 2025
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 debuted with Arizona on Friday, Sept. 19. Additionally, Jac Caglianone (June 3 – Kansas City Royals) and Brandon Sproat (Sept. 7 – New York Mets) made their MLB debuts earlier this season.
After being selected with the 44th overall pick 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.
Big League Hunter 🏴☠️ #GatorMade // #GoGators pic.twitter.com/1hzNtWibpa
— Florida Gators Baseball (@GatorsBB) September 24, 2025
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 | 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) | Tuesday, September 23, 2025 | Pittsburgh Pirates |
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