Thomas

Harrington

The Pirates will likely announce a corresponding transaction before Friday’s game. Harrington is one of the top pitching prospects in the system and could be brought back up as either a multi-inning bullpen arm or possibly to make starts. There’s some long-term upside here, but Harrington is best left on the waiver wire for now.

Harrington entered up 4-1 after five, and he got the chance to finish the game after the Pirates expanded their lead to 8-2 in the seventh. He did give up two homers along the way, but a save it was. Harrington, who gave up six runs as a starter in his major league debut last Tuesday, might head back to the minors now in exchange for the fresh arm, but he gave a weary pen a nice lift tonight.

Harrington got off to a rocky start as the Rays tagged him for three runs on three hits, including run-scoring knocks by rookies Jake Magum and Kameron Misner, and a pair of walks during a 30-pitch opening frame. Things didn’t get any better from there as he continued to struggle uncharacteristically with his control and gave up three additional runs on four hits, including a two-run homer by Brandon Lowe. The 23-year-old top pitching prospect projects as a high-floor starter with the command and control to outperform expectations, but he’s going to need some time to acclimate to the big leagues. It’s unclear whether he’ll get another start for the Pirates, but he’s in line to face the Cardinals on Monday at PNC Park.

Harrington, the 36th overall pick in the 2022 draft, will make his major league debut against the Rays on Tuesday. The 23-year-old had a 2.61 ERA and a 115/19 K/BB in 117 1/3 innings between Double- and Triple-A last year.

The Pirates decided last week to keep Cameron Mlodzinski over Harrington for the final spot in the rotation, but Mlodzinski allowed four runs on seven hits in 3 2/3 innings, and it appears the Pirates will now turn to Harrington, who will start on Tuesday against the Rays. The 23-year-old has yet to make a start in the minors this season, but he posted a 2.61 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, and 115/19 K/BB ratio in 117 1/3 innings last year split between Double-A and Triple-A. Harrington does not have the swing-and-miss upside of Paul Skenes or Jared Jones, but he has elite command and a deep five-pitch mix. His four-seam fastball is just around 92 mph, so he will need to rely on that command and sequencing to help him against MLB hitters, but he should be added in deeper formats and can be treated as a streamer right now in shallower leagues.

No real surprises here as the Pirates announced earlier on Monday that Carmen Mlodzinski would break camp as the club’s fifth starter over Harrington. The 23-year-old top pitching prospect figures to break into the majors at some point later this year.

Harrington is starting Monday’s exhibition game, but the 23-year-old won’t break camp with the Pirates. The right-hander is one of the better pitching prospects in the system, so there’s a chance he could make starts with Pittsburgh by the time 2025 concludes.

Tomczyk added that Jones will not pitch again in spring training due to right elbow discomfort and remains without an official diagnosis or timetable to resume throwing. The electrifying 23-year-old righty will open the regular season on the injured list with his absence opening the door for Bubba Chandler, Thomas Harrington or Carmen Mlodzinski to break camp in Pittsburgh’s rotation. Chandler would be the most intriguing from a fantasy standpoint by a considerable margin, but he might be the least likely to get the nod. There should be some much-needed clarity on his status at some point later this week.

The one hit he allowed was a Nick Castellanos solo shot. Harrington, the 36th overall pick in the 2022 draft, could make his major league debut in the Pirates rotation sometime in the first half of the season. He’s not a big upside guy, but excellent command of average stuff should make him a useful big leaguer.

The 21-year-old top prospect wound up making five appearances in his first professional season — posting a 5.40 ERA, 1.05 WHIP and a 10/2 K/BB ratio over 6 2/3 innings across three minor league levels. He’s a longshot to crack the Pirates’ Opening Day rotation, but don’t be surprised if we see him at some point in 2024. The 12 other players invited to major league spring training were INF Andres Alvarez, C Carter Bins, INF Jack Brannigan, RHP Bubba Chandler, OF Matt Gorski, C Abrahan Gutierrez, RHP Thomas Harrington, INF Termarr Johnson, RHP Jared Jones, INF Joe Perez, LHP Anthony Solameto and RHP Sean Sullivan.