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Apr 1, 2025; St. Petersburg, Florida, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Thomas Harrington (78) throws a pitch against the Tampa Bay Rays in the second inning at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

Injured Pirates Prospect Not Pitching Again This Season

Originally posted on Pittsburgh Pirates on SI
By Dominic Campbell | Last updated Sep 19, 2025 9:00 AM ET

PITTSBURGH — A Pittsburgh Pirates pitching prospect has improved after a recent injury, but won't take the mound again this season.

Pirates right-handed pitching prospect Thomas Harrington, with Triple-A Indianapolis, hasn't pitched since Aug. 28, facing off against the Buffalo Bisons, the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays, at home. He threw just one scoreless inning, posting a strikeout over 14 pitches, before ending his outing.

Indianapolis then placed Harrington on the 7-day injured list on Aug. 29, marking his second time on the injured list in the same month, doing so on Aug. 10, retroactive to Aug. 9, and had 20 days between his last two starts.

Pirates senior director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk, who announced that Harrington reaggravated his groin injury in that last start, said most recently that Harrington won't pitch competitively again in 2025.

Tomczyk did say that Harrington is improving physically, but just doesn't have the time to return fully for a final start of the campaign, before the Indianapolis season ends this weekend.

“Unfortunately he’s not going to be competing the rest of the season, for the Indy season," Tomczyk said. "He is feeling better, he is playing light catch, he just ran out of time based on his groin strain.”

Harrington spent time with the Pirates this season, as they selected his contract on April 1 and made his MLB 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.

Harrington made his second appearance against the St. Louis Cardinals in his PNC Park debut on April 7, but this time, from the bullpen.

He came in during the sixth inning and had a solid outing, closing out the final four innings in the 8-4 win.

Harrington 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 and 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 one start before going on the injured list for the first time.

He started 20 of 21 games he 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 that Harrington heals soon and gets fully ready for a strong 2026 campaign.

This article first appeared on Pittsburgh Pirates on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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