Thomas Harrington will make his major-league debut tonight against the Rays here at George M. Steinbrenner Field.

Harrington, the Pirates' No. 3 prospect and the No. 78 overall prospect, according to MLB Pipeline, made four appearances and two starts this spring, throwing 9 2/3 innings and recording a 5.59 ERA. He started the team's final Grapefruit League matchup against the Twins and pitched three innings, gave up five hits and allowed four earned runs while striking out two. 

Before that start, Derek Shelton made it clear before that start that Harrington wouldn't make the opening day roster out of camp. However, he hinted that Harrington would be called upon at some point to help the major-league club and that time has come. 

"Excited for him," Shelton said. "I mean I think he’s a guy who’s proven and deserved that it’s time for him to get a start. The expectation is for him to just go out and throw strikes, compete."

Shelton said this afternoon that they thought there was a possibility that Harrington could start today but they were never sure. They didn't send him to St. Paul, Minn. because he wouldn't have been scheduled to pitch but they also wanted to keep their options open in case the opportunity became apparent.

"I think the fact that there was the option of this game, we hadn’t fully decided that, but I think we were giving ourselves that option," Shelton said.

Harrington now adds another arm to the starting rotation. Shelton said that they aren't sure if this will be a spot start for Harrington or if he will stick around and that is something that will be determined in the coming weeks.

For now though, Shelton is looking for Harrington to execute in his first major-league start. He has the ability to work both sides of the plate with a four-pitch mix and command the strike zone.

Harrington provides a different look compared to some of the other Pirates' pitching prospects. He doesn't throw hard like Bubba Chandler or have sharp breaking stuff like Braxton Ashcraft, he excels at locating the baseball, changing speeds and manipulating the shape of his pitches. However, the others have also benefitted from Harrington as he has helped Ashcraft improve his changeup and even helped Jared Jones with his fastball last spring.

"I think it’s the beauty of having teammates around you," Oscar Marin said this spring. "When a certain teammate is working on a new pitch that another teammate has and Harrington has pretty dang good feel so I think just getting the feedback from another teammate that’s been around him really helps."

Harrington has climbed through the Pirates' organization since being drafted with the 36th overall selection out of Campbell University in 2022. He made 26 starts between Class A Bradenton and Class A+ Greensboro in 2023 and started one game with Bradenton last season before making 12 starts for Class AA Altoona. He threw 68 1/3 innings, recorded a 2.24 ERA and struck out 74 batters. 

In August, Harrington was promoted to Class AAA Indianapolis. He went 5-1 in eight starts over 46 innings while earning a 3.33 ERA. He also struck out 38 batters. This could just be a spot start for Harrington, who will have to be added to the team's 40-man roster. However, as one of the team's top prospects, this could be a chance for him to prove that he belongs at the major-league level because he expected to be here.

"I figured out that making the opening day roster is really hard, that's for sure." Harrington said after making his final spring start. "I also learned that these hitters are really good. I just have to bare down, focus on each pitch and whatever the result is, keep moving on. Just keep going."