In The System: How Harrington found special breaking ball this winter

May 16, 2023 • 2:36 am

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Thomas Harrington didn't see this path for himself.

The right-hander pitched his way onto teams draft boards in 2022 with a combination of good stuff, an efficient delivery and potential to develop perhaps more than most collegiate pitchers do. Not too shabby for someone who had to walk onto Campbell University's baseball team, and the Pirates grabbed him at the end of the first round last year with their Competitive Balance Round A pick.

“Of course you always believe in yourself, but I think reality sits in eventually," Harrington told me in Tampa earlier this month. "My intentions were I was going to play baseball for four years, go to the university, get my degree and work a 9 to 5 job.

"I wanted to be a physical therapist. I was going to work with broken athletes.”

The word "broken" stood out and begged for a follow up question. A moment later, Harrington was showing me the scar on his right wrist. He injured it playing quarterback just before halftime in the second game of his senior year. He taped it up and played four more weeks before he figured out that it was actually broken and required surgery. The feeling of being away from his team ate at him, and he thought his calling was to help athletes get back to the field as quickly as possible.

But at Campbell, things started to click on the diamond. He built strength. He found more fastball velocity. He was able to separate the slurve he had in high school to a curveball and slider.

“It was after my freshman year where I was like, ‘wow, maybe I can do something with this,' " Harrington said. "And then one thing leads to another and you’re in a whole different situation, playing in Florida rather than North Carolina.”

The Pirates thought so too, and the hitters in the Class Low-A Florida Coast League are learning that as well. He's 4-0 in his first six starts of the season and has struck out a batter an inning (28 over 27 2/3) with a 3.25 ERA. He's now sitting 93 mph -- with projected room for more -- on his fastball with a plus changeup and breaking stuff. In a scouting report sent to DK Pittsburgh Sports, one analyst opined he is the Pirates' second-best pitching prospect behind Luis Ortiz.

A big reason why they were so high on Harrington is because of his new pitch. Harrington used to throw a slider, but now it's a sweeper. The change was just moving his original two-seam grip off-center, and the mechanics for it fit his arm slot perfectly. Now, his slider went from averaging about 8.5 inches of horizontal run to about 16.5 inches.

“I threw the same slider for two years," Harrington said, "but screw it, let’s do something new."

Harrington picked up the grip from his Campbell pitching coach, Tyler Robinson, who floated it to him at the end of the 2022 collegiate season. It felt right, but it was too late in the season for Harrington to use it in games. This winter, he picked it up again and worked with Robinson, developing a pitch that already gets more horizontal movement than roughly 75% of the sweepers from major-leaguers.

“I don’t think the Pirates know I started throwing it in the offseason, but who cares," Harrington said with a chuckle.

Hey, who are they to complain about a pitcher coming into camp with a new plus pitch? And it was further developed this spring with the aid of Altoona Curve pitching coach Cale Johnson, helping him find the right axis for the pitch.

Now Harrington has arguably one of the best pitches at his level, helping him spearhead a staff that largely consists of players from last year's draft class.

"Everyone's with each other and everyone's picking each other up," Harrington said. "It's a really good connection."

And leading the way is the guy who thought he might one day be just helping those pitchers get back from the injured list quicker.

WHO IS HOT?

AAA Indianapolis: Aaron Shackelford is hitting .313 (21-for-67) with a .969 OPS over his last 20 games. A 14th-round pick in 2019, the 26-year-old infielder hit 26 home runs a year ago with Class AA Altoona and has drastically upped his walk rate (from 9% to 17.5%) to boost his on-base percentage and make up for his higher strikeout rate (27.2%).

AA Altoona: Right-hander Aaron Shortridge tossed six scoreless innings on Friday and is 1-1 with a 2.38 ERA and a .215 batting average allowed over his last four starts, totaling 22 2/3 innings. This is the 25-year-old former fourth-round pick's first full season back from Tommy John surgery.

A+ Greensboro: Right-hander reliever Will Kobos has yet to allow a run in his 10 appearances, striking out 20 with only nine base runners allowed over his 16 1/3 innings. A 19th-round pick in 2018, Kobos always has had a knack for missing bats, but he's drastically cut down on the walks to maximize those punchouts.

A- Bradenton: Outfielder Shalin Polanco, one of the team's big international signings in 2021, is tied for the most home runs in the Florida State League this month (four).

SOMETHING TO WATCH

Again, the Altoona entry for the "who is hot" goes to the guy besides Henry Davis, who continues to tear up Class AA pitching. He ranks first in the Eastern League in on-base percentage (.452) and OPS (1.100) and is fourth in home runs (eight).

So how much longer until the Pirates finally yield and promote him? For now, the team is still maintaining their current stance, which is both he and Endy Rodriguez need to get consistent playing time behind the plate.

"Henry likes to make things really difficult, for sure," director of coaching and player development John Baker said this week. "He’s swung the bat so well. He’s run the bases so well. And his catching has improved. I think that’s the toughest part. There are only six games a week. We’d like both of those to catch four or five or either sometimes in the future six of those games just for their development."

Davis started two games in right field and was the designated hitter for another game this week.

INJURY NEWS

Left-hander Hunter Barco, the Pirates' second-round pick from last year's draft, has thrown his first live bullpen as a Pirate prospect and started throwing side sessions as he works back from a Tommy John surgery he had in college. Outfielder Travis Swaggerty (viral illness) remains with the Indianapolis team, with the hope that he can return to games later this month. Right-hander Blake Cederlind (Tommy John) made his first rehab assignment last Friday, allowing two runs on two walks while striking out one for Bradenton. Jared Triolo (hamate) completed his rehab assignment and rejoined Indianapolis last week.

CLIP OF THE WEEK

I'd keep an eye on right-hander Colin Selby once the Pirates' roster inevitably goes back to 13 pitchers. He's in a groove right now, striking out a dozen over his last five outings, and he had his contract selected by the club this offseason.

So this week's highlight clip is him unloading three high spin breaking balls to strike out the side and get a save: