2 Pirates prospects who could take a similar path to Jared Jones, Thomas Harrington

The Pittsburgh Pirates have now called up a top prospect within the first week of the MLB season two years in a row. In 2024, Jared Jones opened the year in their starting rotation. This season, Thomas Harrington received the call during the second series of the campaign, though he hassince been optioned to Triple-A. The minor league season may have just begun, but let’s take a way-too-early look at some top prospects currently in the Pirates’ system who could follow in Jones or Harrington’s footsteps in 2026.

2 Top Prospects Who Could Follow Pirates' Early Promotion Plan in 2025

Termarr Johnson

Termarr Johnson was the Pirates’ first-round pick in 2022. He was one of the youngest players in the draft, and is still just 20 years old (turns 21 in June). Johnson may be young, but he’s already at Double-A, and is off to a solid start to the 2025 season. Depending on how the Pirates’ middle infield looks in spring training of next year, Johnson could open 2026 with the big league team.

Johnson’s 2024 was a mixed bag. He opened the season ice cold, only hitting .175/.383/.254 with a .330 wOBA and 105 wRC+. The only positives associated with those first 154 plate appearances? He walked at an exceptional 22.1% rate with a respectable 22.7% strikeout percentage. Still, he had a below-par sub-.100 isolated slugging percentage in this time.

However, Johnson figured things out for the rest of his tenure at Greensboro. His final 340 plate appearances at High-A yielded a .266/.372/.444 triple-slash. He still drew walks at a high 13.5% rate and lowered his K% to 20.6%. Johnson hit for more power as well, with a .178 isolated slugging percentage. All told, the former first-rounder had a .377 wOBA, and 134 wRC+ in this stretch before he was promoted to Altoona.

But that home stretch at Altoona in 2024 wasn’t very good. It was a microscopic sample size of just 14 games and 57 plate appearances, but Johnson only had 11 hits. However, four of those hits went for extra bases, with a pair of home runs and doubles. Another positive is that he drew seven walks and only struck out 11 times. 

Johnson has appeared in seven games with Altoona and has stepped to the plate 29 times. He only has nine hits, but two have gone for extra bases with a homer and a double. After his first five games, he was marred by just a .267 batting average on balls in play, which has stabilized and corrected already to .380. Johnson has five walks and seven strikeouts on the year thus far.

Wilber Dotel

Wilber Dotel was an international signee by the Pirates in October 2020. The right-hander has steadily climbed the minor leagues and made some massive steps forward last season, even if his results were not good. Given Dotel’s age and pitcher type, he has a handful of things in common with Jared Jones.

Last year, Dotel pitched to a poor 5.33 ERA, 5.77 FIP, and 1.43 WHIP in 105.1 innings. He struck out 22.8% of opponents, but had a free pass percentage of just 11.8%. Home runs also plagued Dotel, with a 1.78 HR/9.

Notably, though, Dotel saw a sizeable uptick in velocity. He went from sitting 92-93 MPH in 2023 to 95-96 MPH and even hitting triple-digits in 2024. Along with a plus four-seamer, he also will toss a lower-90s two-seamer, a slurve that comes in around the lower-80s, a more traditional upper-80s slider, and an upper-80s changeup.

Dotel has opened the year with Johnson at Altoona, and has made two starts. He has only tossed 8.2 innings between those two outings, but has allowed just a single earned run and walk each, striking out seven opponents. Only five batters have reached via base hit vs. Dotel.

Like Dotel, Jones’ worst season was at High-A Greensboro back in 2022. Jones also sits mid-upper-90s and can hit triple-digits (when healthy). He also struggled with control early in his minor league career, with a walk rate that hovered around 10% in 2022. However, Jones went on to have an outstanding 2023 minor league season before opening the following year in the Major League rotation.

Dotel is in his age-22 season right now. He could plausibly make his MLB debut this year. The Pirates are going to need to add him to the 40-man roster, at some point, to protect him from the Rule 5 draft. Baseball America compares Dotel to former Pirate hurler Luis L. Ortiz, who opened his age-23 season at Double-A in 2022, but appeared in a few outings in the Major Leagues late that season. 

While Johnson could have an opportunity to break camp with the Pirates in 2026, Dotel has a lot in common with pitchers the Pirates have been aggressive with in recent seasons, like Jones, Ortiz, and Harrington. That makes him a prime candidate to potentially secure a Major League roster spot early into 2026.