Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects Who Could Push For Promotions Early in the Season

Although the season just started, the Pittsburgh Pirates already have some prospects pushing for a promotion to the next level

It’s early in the season, but some of the Pittsburgh Pirates’ prospects have shown a ton of talent. It’s also early to start moving players up, but there certainly could be some players who could get bumped up to the next level of the minor leagues before summer. The Pirates did it last season when they gave Henry Davis the push to Double-A Altoona after just 22 games at High-A Greensboro.

The prospects we are looking at today definitely could be looking to get promoted to the next minor league level within the very near future. Today’s list won’t include guys looking to get bumped to the big leagues. So while Endy Rodriguez would be fun to see in the big leagues, most of today’s prospects are in the lower minor leagues. So without further ado, let’s get into our first prospect of the day.

Thomas Harrington

It’s a little bit of a surprise that the Pittsburgh Pirates started Thomas Harrington at Low-A Bradenton. Harrington is in his age-21 campaign, making him older than some of the pitchers at High-A Greensboro. Both Bubba Chandler and Anthony Solometo are younger than Harrington. While Solometo and Chandler were both much more highly touted in their draft class compared to Harrington, that doesn’t mean that Harrington had no talent.

Harrington put together a phenomenal final season at Campbell University, working to a 2.53 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, and 6.17 K:BB ratio through 92.2 innings. Harrington allowed just a single home run, and while his home run prevention skills were his strongest suit, it wasn’t his only strength. He also struck out 30% of the batters he faced with a walk rate of just under 5% at 4.9%. In his first professional game at Bradenton this season, Harrington pitched five scoreless innings, striking out seven, not allowing a single free pass, and allowing five hits.

The 36th overall pick in the draft averages out around 92 MPH but tops out at 96. Despite lacking velocity, his fastball plays to an above-average level because of its ability to carry through the zone. He throws two breaking balls: a slider and a curveball. The former offering is the better of the two, and his curveball is more of a get-me-over type offering. Out of all his pitches, his tumbling change-up is the best. However, all of his stuff plays up because of his excellent command.

Harrington’s stuff was on full display in his debut, and both looked and played the part of a top pitching prospect. If there was a pitching prospect that was deserving of a promotion to the next level of the minor leagues right now, it would be Harrington. He could easily play at the next level given his age and talent. He may not stay at Bradenton too long if he continues to perform and stays healthy.