Pittsburgh Pirates No. 3 overall prospect Thomas Harrington made his MLB debut Tuesday night against the Tampa Bay Rays and struggled, allowing six earned runs in four innings.
Manager Derek Shelton pulled him after four innings with Tampa Bay leading 6-0.
The 23-year-old righty threw 54 of his 90 pitches for strikes, allowing seven hits with four walks and two strikeouts.
Harrington, chosen 36th overall by the Pirates in the 2022 MLB Draft, labored through a 30-pitch first inning at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa.
Allowing a single on the first pitch he threw to Yandy Diaz, the Rays ended the frame with a 3-0 lead, thanks to a Jake Mangum double and Kameron Misner RBI single.
Harrington managed to recover in the second, tossing a 12-pitch inning, but in the third, Mangum singled, took second on a walk to Curtis Mead and advanced to third on a wild pitch.
That set up a sacrifice fly by Misner, putting the Rays in front 4-0.
Then, in the fourth, the Rays took a 6-0 lead on a Brandon Lowe two-run homer.
Last year in the minors, Harrington split time between the Altoona Curve and Indianapolis Indians, going 7-3 with a 2.61 ERA, 115 strikeouts and 19 walks in 22 outings (21 starts).
He was 2-2 with a 2.24 ERA at Double-A Altoona before ending the season at Triple-A, where he went 5-1 with a 3.33 ERA in eight starts for Indianapolis.
This spring, Harrington battled for an Opening Day roster spot, going 0-1 with a 5.59 ERA in four appearances, two of which were starts, before being sent to the minors Friday.
Thomas Harrington has arrived! ????
The @Pirates No. 3 prospect takes the mound for the first time in his Major League debut vs. the Rays! pic.twitter.com/W2I2H4P1tC
— SportsNet Pittsburgh (@SNPittsburgh) April 1, 2025