Pirates Top 30 Prospects No. 4: Hard Work Pays Off for Thomas Harrington

This is one in a series of stories breaking down PBN’s Top 30 Pittsburgh Pirates prospects.

A 6-foot-2, 185 pound right-handed pitcher with three plus offerings, Thomas Harrington looks set to reach Major League Baseball in 2025 if things continue on schedule… a meteoric rise to prominence for someone who walked on to the Campbell Fighting Camels as a true freshman just four years ago.

Drafted 36th overall in the 2022 MLB Entry Draft, Harrington reached Triple-A Indianapolis this past season, just his second in the pros, putting together a 2.61 ERA with 115 strikeouts in 117.1 between Altoona, Indianapolis and a rehab start in Bradenton.

Despite missing the first month of the season with a rotator cuff injury, Harrington tore through his competition, continuing to augment his pitch mix with the cutter he added in 2023. Harrington’s 55-grade fastball sits in the low to mid 90s and a changeup with plenty of vertical movement masked by his repeatable delivery, as well as a plus slider and above-average command: he issued just 19 walks this past season.

The 23-year-old spent the last month and a half of the season in Triple-A, where his ERA nudged up and strikeouts went down, but he’ll be in the mix for the Pirates’ rotation at some point next season if things go to plan.

It’s a played out trope, but Harrington’s work ethic makes him all the more fascinating as a prospect: needing to walk on in the Big South Conference—with all due respect to the Fighting Camels, who qualified for the NCAA Tournament in five of the past six seasons—Harrington didn’t make it where he is on natural talent alone.