Pirates Pitching Prospect Heads Back to Injured List
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PITTSBURGH — A Pittsburgh Pirates pitching prospect looked to get back heathy and competing, but suffered another setback.
Triple-A Indianapolis placed right-handed starting pitcher Thomas Harrington on the 7-day injured list, landing on there on Aug. 29, according to his transactions log.
He made his most recent start for Indianapolis on Aug. 28, facing off against the Buffalo Bisons, the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays at home.
Harrington threw one scoreless inning, posting a strikeout over 14 pitches, before ending his outing.
That marked his first start in 20 days, after he went on the 7-day injured list on Aug. 10, retroactive on Aug. 9.
Pirates senior director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk said that Harrington suffered a groin strain back on Aug. 13 and resumed light throwing at that time, according to Jose Negrón of DK PIttsburgh Sports.
Harrington spent time with the Pirates this season, as they selected his contract on April 1 and made his debut that same day vs. the Tampa Bay Rays at George M. Steinbrenner Stadium.
He struggled in that outing allowing seven hits, four walks and six earned runs with just two strikeouts over 90 pitches in four innings in the 7-0 loss.
He made his second appearance against the St. Louis Cardinals in his PNC Park debut on April 7, but this time, from the bullpen.
Harrington came in during the sixth inning and had a solid outing, closing out the final four innings in the 8-4 win.
He became the first Pirates pitcher to earn a four-inning save since Jason Christiansen did so in a 5-1 win over the Montreal Expos on July 17, 1998.
The Pirates sent Harrington back down to Indianapolis on April 10 and he spent almost four months there before they recalled him on Aug. 1.
Harrington struggled massively in his last outing with the Pirates against the Rockies at Coors Field that same day, giving up six earned runs and getting just two outs, as the home team came back cut the deficit to 15-10 and eventually won 17-16.
The Pirates sent Harrington back down to Indianapolis the next day and he made his last start with Omaha before going on the Injured List.
He has started 20 of 21 games he's pitched at Triple-A in 2025, with a 7-9 record, a 5.34 ERA over 96.0 innings pitched, 90 strikeouts to 33 walks, a .251 opposing batting average and a 1.31 WHIP.
The Pirates took Harrington with the No. 36 overall pick in the first round of the 2022 MLB Draft out of Campbell, as a competitive balance pick, earning a $2,050,000 million signing bonus.
MLB Pipeline originally had Harrington in their top 100 this season before dropping him out. They rank Harrington as the Pirates ninth best prospect.
Pirates fans will hope Harrington returns soon for the end of the season, so he can improve heading into 2026.
Dominic writes for Pittsburgh Pirates On SI, Pittsburgh Panthers Pn SI and also, Pittsburgh Steelers On SI. A Pittsburgh native, Dominic grew up watching Pittsburgh Sports and wrote for The Pitt News as an undergraduate at the University of Pittsburgh, covering Pitt Athletics. He would write for Pittsburgh Sports Now after college and has years of experience covering sports across Pittsburgh.