Thomas

Harrington

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.

Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says that Harrington is in Pittsburgh Friday morning to take a physical and sign his contract. It’s not clear what Harrington’s signing bonus will be, but the slot value for the No. 36 overall selection is $2.1503 million.

Harrington is the second pick out of Campbell of the draft, with Zach Neto going 13th overall to the Angels. The right-hander’s best two pitches are a fastball that can get as high as 97 mph, and a change that’s a plus pitch right now. He also has a solid slider, and he can even mix in a curve. He throws these pitches for strikes, but still has some work to be done in the command area. He has a chance to be a mid-rotation starter, with a chance for more if everything maxes out.