![\"Hunter](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Barco-1120x630.jpg\")
20240316, The Pittsburgh Pirates Minor Leagues face the Baltimore Orioles at Pirate City, Bradenton, Florida (Photos by Harrison Barden)\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t20240316, The Pittsburgh Pirates Minor Leagues face the Baltimore Orioles at Pirate City, Bradenton, Florida (Photos by Harrison Barden)\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
The Pittsburgh Pirates have no shortage of intriguing prospects joining big-league camp in Bradenton this year.<\/p>\n
While not every prosect in attendance at Pirate City will not yet be fighting for a spot on the Opening Day roster, being around established big-leaguers and the MLB coaching staff will be valuable.<\/p>\n
The list of prospects joining the Pirates at camp this season is extensive, but here are six worth keeping a close eye on.<\/p>\n
SS Konnor Griffin<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s start with the most obvious. Griffin is not only the consensus top prospect in baseball but will be competing for a spot on the Pirates initial roster for the start of the regular season.<\/p>\n
Griffin took the world by storm with a stellar first professional season that began in Low-A Bradenton and ended in Double-A Altoona. The 19-year-old combined to slash .333\/.415\/.527 with 23 doubles, four triples, 21 home runs, 94 RBI and 65 stolen bases in 122 games.<\/p>\n
In addition to what he did at the plate and on the bases, Griffin won a minor-league Gold Glove at shortstop. A lot will have to do with how he performs during the Grapefruit League slate, but there\u2019s a real chance Griffin is starting at short as a teenager for the Pirates on Opening Day against the New York Mets.<\/p>\n
LHP Hunter Barco<\/p>\n
The Pirates got a glimpse of Barco at the very end of last season when he made a pair of scoreless relief appearances and earned his first Major League win.<\/p>\n
Barco spent the rest of the season in the minor leagues. He began the year with Altoona and threw 25.2-consecutive scoreless innings across six starts before a promotion to Indianapolis. He made 21 appearances\/17 starts at Triple-A and went 3-1 with a 3.79 ERA and 82 strikeouts in 73.2 innings.<\/p>\n
Though he might be on the outside looking in initially, there\u2019s a chance the 25-year-old could win the fifth spot in the rotation to begin the year, especially if the Pirate don\u2019t make an external addition before then. <\/p>\n
2B Termarr Johnson<\/p>\n
Johnson spent the entire 2025 season with Altoona and had a solid year. The 2022 first-round draft pick hit .272 with a .745 OPS (118 wRC+) with 15 doubles, three triples, nine home runs, 35 RBI and 20 stolen bases. Johnson also improved drastically against left-handed pitching.<\/p>\n
Will Johnson make the Opening Day roster? No. But he\u2019ll likely begin the season with Indianapolis and could potentially reach Pittsburgh at some point this season.<\/p>\n
While Johnson is no longer considered a top 100 prospect, there are still reasons to believe he can be a solid big-league player. Keep in mind that the 21-year-old has consistently been one of the youngest players in the league he\u2019s played in.<\/p>\n
OF Jhostynxon Garc\u00eda<\/p>\n
Garc\u00eda was the first notable addition for the Pirates this offseason when he was acquired from the Boston Red Sox in a five-player trade that sent right-hander Johan Oviedo the other way.<\/p>\n
Garc\u00eda had a brief stint with Boston last year for his MLB debut but spent the majority of the season blocked by a crowded outfield and in the minor leagues. He performed particularly well in Triple-A, where he hit .271 with an .833 OPS, 12 doubles, three triples, 18 home runs and 58 RBI in 81 games with Worcester. <\/p>\n
The 23-year-old will compete for a fourth outfield spot this spring. Like Barco, he might be on the outside looking in, but he should see time with the Pirates at some point during the year.<\/p>\n
RHP Antwone Kelly<\/p>\n
The Pirates protected Kelly from the Rule 5 Draft this offseason by adding him to the 40-man roster.<\/p>\n
Kelly split the year between High-A Greensboro and Altoona and combined to go 3-3 with a 3.02 ERA in a career-high 25 starts. In 107.1 total innings, he allowed 81 hits, walked 33 and struck out 116.<\/p>\n
In addition to seeing him compete in the Grapefruit League, fans will get a look at Kelly during the World Baseball Classic for team Netherlands. While he won\u2019t battle for a rotation spot yet, the 22-year-old is establishing himself as one of the better pitchers in the minor-league system.<\/p>\n
INF Duce Gourson<\/p>\n
One under-the-radar prospect at camp this spring is Gourson, who more than one person has said to me they feel is one of the more underrated players in the organization.<\/p>\n
Gourson, the Pirates\u2019 ninth-round pick in 2024, played 39 games with Greensboro and 56 games with Altoona last season. Between the two levels, the 23-year-old slashed .275\/.370\/.439 with 21 doubles, two triples, 10 home runs, 38 RBI and 31 steals. He also showed off his versatility with games played at first base, second and third.<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t be surprised if Gourson is considered one of the club\u2019s top 30 prospects by this time next year. <\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMentioned in this article: Antwone Kelly<\/a> Duce Gourson<\/a> Hunter Barco<\/a> Jhostynxon Garcia<\/a> Konnor Griffin<\/a> Pittsburgh Pirates<\/a> Termarr Johnson<\/a> <\/p>\n More about:Pirates<\/a> Pirates Farm System<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"20240316, The Pittsburgh Pirates Minor Leagues face the Baltimore Orioles at Pirate City, Bradenton, Florida (Photos by Harrison…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":513367,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2290],"tags":[54765,5,52406,15155,19257,9545,64,9546],"class_list":{"0":"post-577188","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-baseball","8":"tag-antwone-kelly","9":"tag-baseball","10":"tag-duce-gourson","11":"tag-hunter-barco","12":"tag-jhostynxon-garcia","13":"tag-konnor-griffin","14":"tag-pittsburgh-pirates","15":"tag-termarr-johnson"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116085204960916358","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/577188","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=577188"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/577188\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/513367"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=577188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=577188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=577188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}