Two promising Pirates pitching prospects returned from injury last week, with Hunter Barco returning to his dominant standard after missing nearly two weeks with a shoulder strain and Carlson Reed making his 2025 debut.
Barco fanned seven batters in just three innings, walking three batters and allowing a hit but preventing any runs from crossing. His day ended at 61 pitches (35 strikes) as he began to run into trouble in the third inning — and, perhaps, out of an abundance of caution.
Reed began the season on the 60-day injured list with a back ailment but returned on Sunday, June 1, striking out two batters across 2.2 scoreless innings and 50 pitches.
Other noteworthy pitching performances include Po-Yu Chen, who pitched five scoreless in his Triple-A debut, fanning four batters; Alessandro Ercolani mowed throw four innings of one run ball on just 41 pitches, but received the loss as Altoona fell 3-0, while Bubba Chandler and Khristian Curtis each struck out eight batters on Friday, May 30.
At the plate, Maikol Escotto enjoyed a two-homer game on Wednesday, May 28, earning a promotion to Double-A two days later. Catcher Nick Cimillo hit three home runs on the week after a slow start to the season, while Esmerlyn Valdez put himself atop the High-A home run leaderboard with his 15th blast of the season.
2022 Pirates first round pick Termarr Johnson hit a two-run homer on June 1 to help Altoona erase a 4-0 deficit, and Konnor Griffin logged seven hits and swiped seven bases on the week, pushing his average to .310 with 25 steals.