4 Pittsburgh Pirates pitching prospects who deserve a promotion

Thomas Harrington

Thomas Harrington is arguably the Pirates’ second-best pitching prospect and their third-best prospect overall. The right-hander had an extremely promising 2023 season between Bradenton and Greensboro, and while he missed the first month of the 2024 campaign, he’s not only picked up where he’s left off, but he’s doing even better than he did for the Marauders or the Grasshoppers.

Through 52.2 frames, Harrington has a 2.41 ERA, 2.81 FIP, and 1.02 WHIP. He’s striking out over a quarter of batters faced for the second season in a row with a 26.8% K%. On top of that, he has one of the lowest walk rates among minor league starters. His 3.8% BB% is the eighth-lowest among all minor-league arms who have started at least 10 games. Harrington has been immune to home runs, sporting an 0.60 HR/9 on the year.

Unlike Chandler, Harrington doesn’t overpower guys with high-90s heat. Instead, he sits 93-94 MPH with great spin, giving it ride through the top of the zone. Harrington’s slider has also improved since he’s reached pro ball. He employs a sweeper in the low-80s that he gets a good amount of swings and misses on. Another pitch that he added last year was a cutter, which has shown some potential as an average or better pitch. Then there’s his two-seamer, which also sits low-90s like his four-seamer, but with more sinking action. Finally, Harrington will mix in a changeup that has above-average potential, though his other pitches have seemingly surpassed it.

Either way, he can throw all of his pitches for strikes, and he consistently hits his spots. This is something else that helps Harrington’s stuff play up. He has plus command, and he’s put that on display by posting a walk rate below 4%. He’s one of just 32 minor league starters with a BB% below 5%.

While I understand Harrington got a late jump to the season, he’s been outright dominant for Altoona. Like Chandler, he’s got almost nothing left to prove at Double-A. There might have been an outside chance Harrington would have already been at Triple-A had he been healthy to start the year and was pitching like he has been, but in April as well. Still, Harrington should be at Triple-A soon, maybe by the end of July if he pitches anything like he has thus far at Altoona.

Carlson Reed

One of the many pitchers the Pirates took in the 2023 draft was Carlson Reed. Coming out of WVU, Reed was utilized as a late-inning arm for the Mountaineers. But despite getting drafted as a reliever, the Pirates slotted Reed into Bradenton’s rotation, and he has pitched even better than he did for West Virginia last year.

Reed has pitched to a 2.75 ERA, 3.76 FIP, and 1.31 WHIP. The righty has only allowed four homers in 68.2 innings while posting a 55.1% ground ball rate. Batters have just an 85 MPH exit velo and 2.8% barrel rate against him, so it’s no surprise he’s barely allowed any homers. Another one of his strengths this year has been inducing strikeouts. Reed has a 31.9% whiff rate and 28.8% K%. 

Unfortunately, Reed struggles with command. He’s handed out a walk to 13.5% of opponents faced this year. Even with WVU last year, he had a 14.5% BB%. He’s a long 6’4”, 200 pounds, and his delivery, which includes keeping his arm long, can hinder his command on the bump. Luckily, the stuff should play well enough that below-average command might be good enough to get the job done.

As a reliever, Reed sat in the mid-90s, but he’s been closer to the lower 90s as a starter, which isn’t all that surprising. Reed’s arsenal includes a four-seamer that sits 93-94, a sinker that comes in around 91-93, a low-80s slider, which he gets a ton of his swings and misses with, and a low/mid-80s changeup.

Getting bumped to Greensboro could be a real test for Reed. That could determine if he stays in the rotation or gets bumped to a bullpen role long-term. Reed has been a nice surprise. He’ll definitely be an interesting prospect to watch to see if he can stick as a starter. If so, he’ll be yet another prospect who could potentially find himself as a long-term cog in the Pirates’ rotation.

Po-Yu Chen

In a rotation headlined by Bubba Chandler and Thomas Harrington, Po-Yu Chen often gets overlooked. But don’t be fooled. The Taiwanese right-hander has been just as good as both this season, especially over the last few months. Chen has also been dominant for the most part of his 2024 campaign.

Chen got off to a rough start to the year, but over his last 54.2 innings, he has just a 2.47 ERA, 3.70 FIP, and 1.10 WHIP. Chen’s K% prior to his stretch was just 10.5%, but he’s now upped that to 21.1%. He also has a walk rate of just 7.8%, with a HR/9 rate of 0.49. Chen has pitched at least six innings in six of his nine outings, and has allowed more than three earned runs just once during this hot streak.

Chen sits low-90s with his four-seam fastball. His breaking offerings include a slider and curveball. His best offering is his split-change. It’s the only pitch in his arsenal that projects as a plus offering. However, one thing that makes Chen’s stuff play up is his command. He can locate very well and has clearly been doing so over his last nine games.

Chen is only 22 but has been pitching extremely well. At some point, the Pirates need to consider bumping Chen to Triple-A Indy. He can join Harrington and Chandler at the next level, too, forming a very formidable Triple-A rotation. Even if he doesn’t project like an ace on the level of either of his two teammates, Chen could still find himself as a rotation option for the Pirates as soon as next season.