Thomas Harrington: 'multi-dimensional' approach paves way in first pro season

Looking back at the progress made by the 36th overall pick in the 2022 draft in his first pro season

Photo Credit: WTM

GREENSBORO - Thomas Harrington was the 36th overall pick in the 2022 draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates out of Campbell University. As a college draft pick, it is generally assumed that they are more advanced, and have the quicker path to the majors.

While that may be true, they still have to figure out how to get professional hitters out, and sometimes that includes messing around and trying different things on the mound.

According to Harrington, he spent this year trying the best way to use all five of his pitches - a fastball, slider, curveball, change up and a second slider that he’s trying out against lefties. 

Having so many pitches can be a good thing, as it can keep hitters off balance, not knowing what is coming next - but only if he masters how to best take advantage of each offering.

You saw a lot of that from Harrington over the course of the season, as he worked to find out what works best for him on the mound. 

You can see the results change throughout the season, as Harrington had more of a ‘pitch-to-contact’ look to him during his time in Bradenton, pounding the bottom of the zone and getting a higher ground ball rate.

“Yea I think it’s kind of the adjustment into pro ball,” Harrington said of his numbers showing a different approach between Bradenton and Greensboro. “Definitely for sure I was striking out less people in Bradenton. I don’t think that was just intentional, I think it was more figuring out how do I finish people.”

It wasn’t a significant jump in his strikeout rate, going from 26.7% in Bradenton to 28.2% with the Grasshoppers, but you saw him attack hitters a lot more with the fastball up in the zone, and follow up with his slider.

Going back and looking at his fastball shape while with Bradenton, it’s of little surprise that he had so much success with it elevated in the strike zone.

Harrington’s four seam fastball registered 17.5” of inverted vertical break (IVB) and a Vertical Approach Angle (VAA) of -4.4, both numbers favoring having the kind of success he had.

All of that plays a part in why, at the time of Greensboro’s season ending, Harrington led all Pirates minor leaguers in strikeouts.

“I think that was a big step forward for me coming to Greensboro, figuring how to finish people, figuring out where my pitches play the most,” Harrington said. “We kind of get that throughout information and once information is thrown out you kind of get to take advantage.”

The fastball and slider have played well for him, and Harrington recognizes that those are the two pitches he feels the most comfortable with at the moment. Part of the adjustment process has been figuring out where the second stuff plays the best, and then executing them that way.

“Really executing where that stuff plays as far as curveball and change up and other slider that I’m playing with.” Harrington said about his progress with his secondary stuff. “It really just comes down to execution because maybe that stuff, stuff wise, the pitch isn’t the greatest but really being able to tone in on that location to really be able to execute.”

One of the advantages that has come from playing around and trying to find how best to use all of his pitches, Harrington has the ability to attack hitters multiple ways, something that doesn’t go unnoticed by Greensboro manager Robby Hammock.

“He does use his defense well,” he said of Harrington. “He gets soft contact and the defense is a big part of his game as well and he has the ability to get a punch out when he needs to as well. So, he's multi-dimensional type pitcher, for me, and he understands those situations, understands when ‘ok, there was an error made behind me, I got to pick our team up’.”

Having that kind of presence on the mound isn’t something that every first year pro has. It’s something that has allowed him to have success despite still trying to find his way this season.

“That’s a lot of what you look for in a successful pitchers. It’s not about what he does, it’s about (how) he reacts to when things don’t go well and he’s a guy that’s just impeccable.”