Pirates Pitching Prospect Reaggravates Groin Injury

Tomczyk did give positive news that Harrington is feeling alright and playing catch up to 90 feet, but didn't have a timeline for when he would return.

"He's actually feeling pretty good. He is playing catch out to 90 feet, but we're taking it day-by-day with him. Too early to make a projection of return quite yet, but what he is doing, is he is playing catch out to 90 feet without any symptoms.

"So yes, it was a reocurring injury, it was a setback, but we're gonna slowly work him back, hopefully get him back sooner than later."

Harrington has 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.

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 for the first time.

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.