Derek Shelton Excited About Pirates' Young Pitching
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The Pittsburgh Pirates' young pitching could give the organization some difficult decisions to make heading into the 2025 season.
After Paul Skenes delivered an all-time great rookie season and Jared Jones also impressed in 2024, the Pirates have two more young pitchers who could see the big leagues sooner rather than later with Bubba Chandler and Thomas Harrington.
While they both face an uphill climb to cracking the rotation to begin the season, Pirates manager Derek Shelton noted there is competition to round out the rotation and he's excited by what he's seen from Pittsburgh's young pitchers thus far.
"I think there is competition with some of those guys, and I think some of those guys, we also probably need to see a little bit more of," Shelton said. "I think we're excited about our young arms. The fact that you can never have enough starting pitching. We know that [and] everybody in the game knows that and the fact that we've done a really good job of developing guys that are that are close to being in the big leagues or are big league pitchers is something that's really encouraging for the entire organization."
Thomas Harrington (@MLBPipeline’s No. 80 prospect) with a really nice sequence to Adam Frazier. The vet looked impressed pic.twitter.com/NBfRUJbRSt
— Alex Stumpf (@AlexJStumpf) February 20, 2025
Chandler is the Pirates' top prospect and No. 15 in baseball according to MLB Pipeline, while Harrington is No. 3 in the organization and No. 80 in baseball.
While Chandler, Jones and Skenes' velocity are the focal point of their games, Harrington is much more reliant on his control. Shelton noted that the contrast in style can be a good thing for a pitching staff, and Harrington has impressed him thus far.
"You like to see different angles [and] different repertoires," Shelton said. "The fact that there's not a ton of velocity compared to the other group, and the other group's got a lot of velocity, but I think the ability to mix and match and be able to execute pitches and throw strikes and do those things that's really functional. Thomas [Harrington] has done a really good job of that."
Harrington went 7-3 with a 2.61 ERA over 21 starts and one relief appearance last season. The Pirates' No. 3 prospect made all but one start in Double-A Altoona and Triple-A Indianapolis. Harrington went 2-2 with a 2.24 ERA in 12 starts and one appearance out of the bullpen for Altoona and was 5-1 with a 3.33 ERA in Indianapolis.
Across his 117 1/3 innings, Harrington struck out 115 batters and walked 19.
Chandler also impressed in 2024, going 10-7 with a 3.08 ERA in 26 appearances, including 23 starts. He elevated his game to another level upon reaching Triple-A, going 4-0 with a 1.83 ERA in seven starts and striking out 54 batters in 39 1/3 innings.
Bubba Chandler is dealing 🃏 pic.twitter.com/mW5c1gsCfm
— Young Bucs (@YoungBucsPIT) February 19, 2025
There's no telling when Chandler and Harrington will appear in the big leagues, but if they follow in the footsteps of Skenes and Jones, Pittsburgh could have one of baseball's best starting rotations for the foreseeable future.
