MLB TRADE NEWS: According to an ESPN report this morning, the sensational world-class second baseman for the San Francisco Giants has formally said farewell to the team after agreeing to a five-year, £185.7 million contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates. However…

What would win in a fight? A Bradenton Marauder or a Campbell Fighting Camel? We may never know but at least we got another great pitching prospect.

On this edition of the Pirates Prospect Update series, we take a look at yet another standout pitcher in Pittsburgh’s system, Thomas Harrington.

The Pirates’ organization has done plenty of work in the past couple of years to build a steady crop of young pitchers, and Harrington is yet another example of this as now at the double-a level is producing quality starts. A former walk-on at Campbell, he was awarded the Big South Conference pitcher of the year honors. Despite his walk-on status, he spent little time outside of the rotation and became the highest drafted pitcher out of Campbell.

Drafted with the 36th overall pick in 2022, Harrington stood out amongst others in his class for his already deep bag of pitches. A capable fastball to go along with a sweeping slider, changeup, and a curve. Since 2022 he also added a cutter to form a well-rounded mix of five distinct pitches. That mix with the potential to add more velocity and an athletic approach from the mound, gives him a super high ceiling as a major leaguer.

Last year was his first professional season, spent between Bradenton and Greensboro where he enjoyed success as a rookie. Then just a year after his debut with the Low-A Marauders, Harrington made his debut with double-a Altoona in the first week of May, and other than an injury to his throwing shoulder, the journey has been relatively problem free for the 22-year old pitcher, showing he really has come a long way in a short amount of time.

Harrington has eight starts at double-a since coming off his injury, showing great command of the zone, striking out 42 batters with a 3.16 ERA. In that span, he’s only walked four and while the competition is stronger at the Double-A level, the tweaks and adjustments he’s made to his game since being drafted has him primed to succeed as the opponents get tougher.

“It’s definitely an adjustment going up each level,” Harrington said. “The biggest thing is just guys swing and miss less. It’s tougher to get strikeouts, so you’ve got to pitch to contact sometimes when you need to. Not that you can’t pitch for strikeouts, but guys swing and miss a bit less.”