Hunter Barco needs to start. The Pirates’ busy bullpen, meanwhile, could use an extra arm.
That was manager Don Kelly’s explanation for Monday’s roster move, Pittsburgh optioning Barco to Triple-A Indianapolis and recalling Evan Sisk, a 28-year-old lefty who made his MLB debut last season.
Sisk appeared in six games with the Indians this season, going 1-0 with a 1.17 ERA while striking out 14 and limiting opponents to a .200 batting average against.
The success follows a spring where Sisk pitched well, though he struggled commanding his curveball and sweeper toward the end.
But after joining the Indians and spending time with pitching coach Drew Benes, Sisk noticed via Trackman data that his release height was a little higher than normal.
While Sisk noticed his hand tilt was off by only a few inches, it impacted his ability to consistently throw strikes, specifically with his offspeed stuff.
“That’s just pitching,” Sisk said. “Sometimes when you don’t have it, you have to do your best to figure out those mechanics or something mental to get back to where you want to be.”
The role Sisk inherits with the Pirates isn’t terribly specific. They just need innings. He also pitched in a variety of roles in the minors.
Sisk appeared in 14 games for the Pirates last season, going 1-1 with a 4.38 ERA and 14 strikeouts. He was actually very good left-on-left, which could become a matchup option for Kelly down the road.
When you also consider Sisk’s time with the Royals in 2025, he held lefties to a .192 average and .564 OPS compared to .275 and .791 for those swinging from the right side.
“I know when I’m going well, I’m tough against lefties,” Sisk said. “As far as innings or how many I’m throwing, I’m open for whatever. It doesn’t really matter to me.”
The Barco side of this also tracks.
Pittsburgh will need starting depth at some point this season. Barco wasn’t developing much while appearing in just four of the Pirates’ first 15 games. When Barco pitched Sunday, he was his first outing in eight days.
Sending Barco back to the Minors will enable him to work a lot of innings and perfect the three pitches he added this past offseason. Barco, like several other Pirates pitchers, has also struggled with walks, giving out seven in as many innings.
“[Barco] is gonna be a big part of what we’re doing moving forward,” Kelly said. “We need to get him stretched back out. We believe he’s a starting pitcher long-term.
“Does that mean when he comes back up he’ll be in the rotation? Don’t know. He can still fill that bulk role. We just needed to get him some more touches on the mound, and we needed to get a fresh arm for this series.”
Skenes Day
The Pirates could really use a quality start Monday against the Nationals with a taxed bullpen and the team looking to erase the sting of Sunday’s loss. Good thing they have Paul Skenes in the mound.
Skenes enters this one 2-1 with a 5.25 ERA. Over Skenes’ past two starts, he’s worked 11 1/3 innings while allowing two earned runs and striking out 11.
After progressing from 77 to 87 pitches in those two starts, you’d think/hope he could push 100 against the Nationals.
“We’ll start lengthening them out in the right situations to allow them to roll,” Kelly said. “Bubba [Chandler] did a great job [Sunday] going back out there in the sixth inning and getting [Seiya] Suzuki. … Excited to see Paul stretched out, too.
With 398 strikeouts through 58 MLB starts, Skenes would become the first Pirates pitcher and one of 20 Major Leaguers in the Modern Era (since 1901) with at least 400 strikeouts in his first 59 career starts.
Taking that one step further, assuming Skenes gets to 400, he’d be tied for the fifth-fastest to do it.
The rest of that list:
Yu Darvish, 50 games
Spencer Strider, 54 games (41 starts)
Shane Bieber, 56 games (54 starts)
Shohei Ohtani, 58 games (all starts)
Hunter Greene, 59 G (all starts)
Around the horn
Jared Jones joined the team for this series at PNC Park. He’ll throw a bullpen on Tuesday. Kelly said he’s on track to return in late May/early June as previously reported. … Pirates outfielders have 10 home runs so far this season, most in MLB. .... The Pirates are 13-6 (.684) in home games against Washington since 2021. … Pittsburgh stranded 37 runners in Chicago, the most in a three-game span since Aug. 3-5, 2018 (also 37).
Jason Mackey: Jason.Mackey@pirates.com and @JMackey_PGH on X.