PITTSBURGH — Hunter Barco didn’t arrive until about 25 minutes before first pitch.
No, not at PNC Park. His flight didn’t land in Pittsburgh until around 6:15 p.m. ET after getting recalled by the Pirates prior to their game against the St. Louis Cardinals at PNC Park on Tuesday night.
Barco was with Triple-A Indianapolis in Memphis for a series against the Redbirds when he got word he was coming back up to the Pirates. Due to a storm in the area, Barco was delayed at the Atlanta airport for five or six hours.
While he was waiting at the gate, Barco was preparing as best he could.
“It’s getting ready the entire flight here. It’s sitting at the airport going over at bats and hitters in my head,” Barco explained. “I haven’t done anything like that before, but it’s whatever you got to do.”
For Barco, it was a fine line between wanting to stay loose but not wanting to be worn out by the time he finally landed.
“I didn’t want to be moving around all day and be worn out by the time I got here,” he said. “I tried to chill a little bit. Whenever I wanted to, I got up and moved around.”
Once Barco eventually got to the stadium, he didn’t have much time to relax or even start to get ready before the bullpen phone rang calling for his services.
Pirates starter Braxton Ashcraft was only able to go 4.1 innings in an eventual 11-7 loss before Barco was called in from the ‘pen. It wasn’t a great performance, but Barco grinded through his outing and finished the game.
“For him to land at 6:15 and do what he did tonight saved the bullpen a lot,” manager Don Kelly said following the loss. “At the beginning, [he] kept it within reach…I thought he did a really great job under tough circumstances.”
Barco allowed an inherited runner to score in the fifth inning before retiring the Cardinals in order in the sixth. He then surrendered three runs in the seventh and two more in the eighth before a scoreless final frame.
“Competed, but at the end of the day it’s about not giving up runs. Got to do that,” Barco said when assessing his outing. “Got to be better and got to do whatever I can to help the team. Today, I didn’t do that.”
While the results weren’t what Barco would have hoped for, being able to finish the game and preserve the bullpen was of monumental importance.
On Monday night, the Pirates used eight relievers — six of which were active on Tuesday — leaving the bullpen vulnerable.
Barco ensured everyone would get a needed breather and enough rest to have at least a mostly-full group of relievers available for Wednesday’s game.
“Those are my guys down there and being able to protect them and their arms in whatever way I can,” he said after the game. “Just going out there and doing my job until they take it away from me.”
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