Pirates Prospect Watch: Thomas Harrington Shines in Greensboro

GREENSBORO, NC – Yesterday was my first look at Thomas Harrington, who the Pirates drafted with the 36th overall pick in the 2022 draft. Harrington went seven innings, allowing one run, while striking out eight batters. Today’s Prospect Watch only features reports from Greensboro, as I’m live here through the weekend.

Player of the Day

THOMAS HARRINGTON, RHP, GREENSBORO

Harrington made things look easy on Friday night, pounding the strike zone, getting plenty of swinging strikes, and throwing seven shutout innings before allowing a home run to lead off the eighth. This was my first time seeing the right-hander in action. He used a 90-92 fastball often to start the count, but his bread and butter is his offspeed stuff.

Harrington features a changeup that sits 86-88 MPH, and can generate swings and misses. His slider is low-80s with good tilt to the bottom of the zone. Both of these offerings were generating strikeouts, and weak, off-balanced swings. You can see him get his final strikeout of the night on a changeup below.

Thomas Harrington gets his 8th strikeout of the night for Greensboro pic.twitter.com/x1N0cBa3nF

— Tim Williams (@TimWilliamsP2) August 19, 2023

Harrington was never really in trouble. He allowed people on base, but it didn’t phase him. For example, he hit the first batter of the third inning. That was followed by a four pitch strikeout, ending on a change. The next batter hit a changeup weakly back to the mound for the 1-3 out. Harrington closed it out with a five pitch strikeout, getting the swing on the slider after missing once and seeing one fouled off.

The fifth inning was similar. He started the frame with a walk, though he did battle back from a 3-1 count with two fastballs that were fouled off. He missed inside on the slider. The next batter struck out on three pitches — 91 MPH swinging, an 86 MPH changeup swinging low, and a slider that got a weak swing for the strikeout. It took Harrington four more pitches to get the final two outs in play.

He returned for the eighth inning, but gave up a leadoff homer to end his night, after missing high on two sliders to put himself in a 2-1 count.

More Greensboro Players to Follow

WYATT HENDRIE, C, GREENSBORO

I really like seeing when players recover. Hendrie had a bad swing, chasing an outside pitch to make the count 0-2 in the seventh. He followed that with a home run, his fifth of the year, with the three run shot leading to a four run inning. After being too aggressive, he waited on a high curveball and sent it over the wall.

Wyatt Hendrie HOMER💣

Hoppers: 4 | Hot Rods: 0 pic.twitter.com/inHDkblNCh

— Greensboro Grasshoppers (@GSOHoppers) August 19, 2023

SHAWN ROSS, 3B, GREENSBORO

Ross followed the home run from Hendrie with an absolute blast of his own. The third baseman makes the loudest contact on the team, and now has 11 homers on the year.

BACK TO BACK🔥

Homer from Shawn Ross!!

Hoppers: 5 | Hot Rods: 0 pic.twitter.com/ZPmXy4sF5i

— Greensboro Grasshoppers (@GSOHoppers) August 19, 2023

JACK BRANNIGAN, 2B, GREENSBORO

I’ve been impressed with Brannigan’s fielding all over the infield. He’s got the range, arm strength, and reaction times to play on the left side. He was at second base last night, and showed comfort moving on that side of the bag. One play really stood out. A ball ate up Josiah Sightler at first base, skipping high into the air toward second. Brannigan immediately broke for the ball, as Sightler essentially gave up on the play. Brannigan didn’t field it cleanly, and was a few steps late trying to run the ball over to the base. Jake Stevenson — who was just rushed into the game after the Harrington leadoff homer — also didn’t react quick enough and was slow to cover the bag. It was a difficult play, but credit to Brannigan for being the only one involved who never quit on the play for a second.

JOSIAH SIGHTLER, 1B, GREENSBORO

Sightler didn’t have a good night, picking up two strikeouts on a night when Greensboro struck out 14 times total. His height and vertical stance makes it difficult for him to get to the bottom of the zone.

JASE BOWEN, CF, GREENSBORO

Bowen has power, speed, and defense. He lacks the ability to hit for a high average, due to a tendency for bad swing decisions. He was offering low, away, and his third strikeout of the evening was just missing an 84 MPH pitch. 

TRES GONZALEZ, LF, GREENSBORO

I wrote yesterday that I like the approach from Gonzalez at the plate. There was one at-bat that stood out, even if the end result was uneventful. After going down 0-2 on a 95 MPH fastball, Gonzalez called time to compose himself. He stepped in and fouled off the next pitch, protecting the inside part of the plate. After taking two mid-80s sliders for balls (one inside, one high), he rolled over an 84 to first base. Seeing four more pitches after an 0-2 count, and fighting back to even is a positive ability, even if he didn’t get the positive outcome.

VALENTIN LINAREZ, RHP, GREENSBORO

I’ve been impressed with Linarez out of the bullpen this week. He went two perfect innings with three strikeouts to close out the game last night. He went three shutout with six strikeouts, no hits, and one walk on Tuesday. Linarez has a 1.59 ERA in 11.1 innings this month, with a 20:4 K/BB. His fastball is 95-96 working on a steep downward plane from his 6′ 5″ frame, and he has a mid-80s slider that is a swing and miss pitch.

Friday’s Home Runs

• Chris Owings, LF, Indianapolis (10)
• Dom Nunez, C, Indianapolis (5)
• Shawn Ross, 3B, Greensboro (11)
• Wyatt Hendrie, C, Greensboro (5)

Friday’s Minor League Results

INDIANAPOLIS (54-62) AT St. Paul

Score: St. Paul 8, Indianapolis 5
Indianapolis Starter: Luis Ortiz, RHP (4.61)
–Line: 4.2 IP, 9 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, 1 HR
Player of the Game: Chris Owings, LF (1-for-3, BB, HR [10], 2 RBI)
Attendance: 8,035

Notable Performers

• Dom Nunez, C (1-for-4, HR [5])

ALTOONA (52-57) AT Bowie

Score: Bowie 3, Altoona 1
Altoona Starter: Jackson Wolf, LHP (3.46)
–Line: 5.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 0 HR
Player of the Game: Joe Perez, DH (2-for-4)
Attendance: 4,187

Notable Performers

• Chavez Young, LF (0-for-2, BB, SB)

GREENSBORO (53-47) AT Greenville

Score: Greensboro 5, Bowling Green 3
Greensboro Starter: Thomas Harrington, RHP (4.15)
–Line: 7.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 K, 1 HR
Player of the Game: Harrington
Attendance: 5,054

Notable Performers

• Valentin Linarez, RHP (2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K)
• Wyatt Hendrie, C (1-for-2, BB, HR [5], 3 RBI)
• Shawn Ross, 3B (1-for-3, HR [11])

BRADENTON (63-48) VS Lakeland

Score: Lakeland 9, Bradenton 0
Bradenton Starter: Hunter Barco, LHP (12.00)
–Line: 0.1 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 0 HR
Player of the Game: Juan Jerez, 1B (1-for-2, BB)
Attendance: 726

Notable Performers

• Jorge Ramos, RHP (2.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K)

FCL PIRATES (30-22) VS FCL Orioles

Score: Pirates 4, Orioles 2
FCL Pirates Starter: Brad Case, RHP (0.00)
–Line: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, 0 HR
Player of the Game: Carlson Reed, RHP (3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K)

Notable Performers

• Antwone Kelly, RHP (4.1 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K)