BRADENTON, Fla. -- For someone who has been around for all of Pirates' Spring Training camp, we hadn¡¯t seen a lot of Thomas Harrington this spring before Tuesday.
The 23-year-old right-hander has been healthy, but had only pitched one spring inning before Tuesday (on Feb. 25). Harrington's pitching work has mainly been conducted on the back fields and at the Pirate City training complex, pitching sim innings and live batting practices. He¡¯s been in the Major League clubhouse this camp and has spent plenty of time around the Pirates¡¯ other young starters, but he hasn¡¯t had much run on that Major League pitching rubber.
That was until Tuesday, where Harrington struck out three over 3 2/3 innings of one-run ball in the Pirates¡¯ 3-2 win over the Phillies at LECOM Park.
¡°It¡¯s definitely a different environment from throwing on the back fields, but it¡¯s primarily just to get your volume in,¡± said Harrington, ranked No. 3 on the Pirates' Top 30 Prospects list according to MLB Pipeline. ¡°There¡¯s definitely a different aspect to it, but I think you just have to stay ready.¡±
Harrington didn¡¯t feel like he had all his stuff Tuesday, but it¡¯s hard to argue with the results. Nick Castellanos did pounce on an in-zone breaking ball for a first-inning home run and Max Kepler drew a walk in the fourth, but those were the only two blemishes for the game¡¯s No. 79 prospect. He flashed all six of his offerings in his 62-pitch outing, averaging over 2,600 rpm on his slider and averaging 93 mph with his fastballs. That¡¯s a tick better than what Harrington was able to do at the end of the 2024 season with Triple-A Indianapolis. He credited that to adrenaline, but he¡¯s also put on about 10 pounds to help him maintain his stuff over the course of a season.
Considering the success Harrington had last season -- recording a 2.61 ERA with 115 punchouts over 117 1/3 innings with Indianapolis, Double-A Altoona and Single-A Bradenton -- it makes sense why the Pirates wanted to give him this look.
¡°We wanted to see him in a start,¡± manager Derek Shelton said. ¡°We wanted to see him in a lineup this late in the spring that we knew was going to be a lot of Major League hitters. Overall, he's had a really good camp."
Normally whenever a young pitcher makes a start this late in spring, it¡¯s an indicator that they¡¯re contending for a spot on the Opening Day roster. When asked if Harrington is in the mix, Shelton started his response with, "I think that's something we'll decide over the next week or so.¡±
It¡¯s not exactly a vote of confidence compared to last year when Shelton flat-out said Jared Jones was in competition for a spot when posed with the same question. The Pirates have a pretty solid starting five set with Jones, Paul Skenes, Mitch Keller, Andrew Heaney and Bailey Falter.
But this is baseball, and no team uses just five starters over the course of the season.
¡°I think with the camp he's had, he's put himself -- whether [or] not [it's] Opening Day -- he's put himself on the radar in terms of helping us this year," Shelton said.
So in other words: stay ready.
A year ago, Jones made the leap from non-roster invite to the Opening Day roster. Harrington will likely have to forge a different path, but the two friends and locker neighbors have been on different paths most of their careers anyway. And when they talk ball -- or even from when Harrington observes Jones¡¯ day-to-day work -- consistency and bouncing back are emphasized.
¡°There are going to be good outings, there¡¯s going to be bad outings,¡± Harrington said. ¡°Jared does a great job of bouncing back from the tough ones and really going on some streaks. I think that¡¯s more what I take away from him.¡±
Harrington might be nearing a bad day if a roster cut is coming, but never rule out a player making the team until the official word comes. Harrington survived another round of cuts Tuesday, and Shelton didn¡¯t say no when asked. Anything could happen.
¡°I definitely believed I could, so I expected to be here,¡± Harrington said. ¡°Obviously, whatever decisions they make are the decisions they make, but yeah, I expected to be here.¡±