3 Pirates prospects who have impressed in spring training so far

Thomas Harrington

Hunter Barco isn’t the only 2022 draft pick who has impressed during spring training. Thomas Harrington has also looked great. The right-hander was the Pirates’ second selection of the ‘22 draft, taken right before Barco. Harrington has also flashed a ton of potential in his brief spring training debut after coming off a strong 2024 season.

Harrington pitched a day prior to Barco against the Braves, also tossing a scoreless inning while allowing one walk and striking out one batter. While Harrington did not face the same caliber of batters Barco did in his spring training debut, his stuff also looked great. His slider, in particular, received outstanding reviews.

He also pitched against the Orioles on March 1, but allowed one earned run.

His performance in 2024 backed up the hype of his solid stuff. Harrington tossed 117.1 innings, working to a 2.61 ERA, 3.11 FIP, and 0.96 WHIP. He had a solid 25.1% strikeout rate, but his walk rate clocked in at a microscopic 4.1% rate. He was also not prone to allowing home runs, with an 0.69 HR/9. Harrington flew under the radar as one of MILB’s most dominant pitchers. Only three hurlers made at least 20 starts with an ERA under 3.00 and a BB% under 5% while striking out at least a quarter of their opponents; Harrington was one of them.

Harrington heads into 2025 as a consensus top 100 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, Baseball America, and Baseball Prospectus. By the end of the 2025 season, the 23-year-old could find himself on the same pitching staff as Paul Skenes, Mitch Keller, Jared Jones, and his Altoona/Indianapolis teammate Bubba Chandler (another top prospect in camp, who has also shown a ton of potential but has already been covered extensively).