Hunter Barco: UF’s Promising Pitcher

With Gator baseball starting in just ten days, UF pitcher, Hunter Barco, joins Steve Russel in an interview about his upcoming season.

The Man Who Turned Down a Multi-Million Deal

Hunter Barco, a left-handed pitcher for the Gators, has always wanted to be a professional baseball player. After committing to the University of Virginia at the age of 14, Barco grew a bigger target throughout high school: The MLB. As a prerequisite for going into the draft, Hunter got an MRI to make certain that his body was in shape for playing. Unfortunately, the doctors found that he had a torn muscle in his shoulder. After the press got word of this, those in the baseball world predicted Barco’s draft stock would drop. Shortly after, Barco received a second opinion on the MRI that he discovered his shoulder was, in fact, not torn.

It wasn’t until the 24th round, where Barco received a phone call to join the Milwaukee Brewers. They offered him a multi-million dollar signing bonus to accept their proposal, but Barco turned it down. He believed this offer was not enough to convince him to miss out of UF and his dedication to improvement.

Opening Season

Barco had a stellar freshman season with four starts and one appearance in relief. He scored a 2-0 record and a 1.40 earned run average. Going into the 2021 season, Barco struggled in the opening series against the Hurricanes. He allowed six runs in just 3 innings. Eventually, he turned his ERA down to 4.01 after persistent SEC play. He ended with a 10-3 record but still had many flaws in his game. Going forward into the 2022 season, Barco has a lot to improve, but is the leading candidate to be UF’s ace.

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Interview with Steve

One thing that Barco has for him is his constant development. When asked about his improvements from when he first got here till now, this is what Barco said

He also stated that he was excited to take on being the Friday night tone-setter since he has seen players two years ahead of him do it. Barco then continued to to express his eagerness for the new young arms and perfect set of veterans and fresh players. Steve then asked about Kevin O’Sullivan’s impact on Barco’s mount playing and he responded with this statement

Future Plans

As for the future, Barco hopes to make it to the College World Series three times in his career as a Gator pitcher. His dreams have yet to disappear for he has set his mind to playing baseball for as long as his body will let him. The Gators are entering the 2022 season as Baseball America’s No. 6 team in the nation and are looking forward to a promising season. Their first game is Feb. 18 against the Liberty Flames.