SL alum Harrington taken in first round of MLB Draft

John Cate, The Sanford Herald, N.C.
·3 min read

Jul. 19—During his two seasons as part of the Campbell University baseball team, Thomas Harrington was unbreakable as steel.

Now the 2020 Southern Lee High School graduate will set his sights on the Steel City itself.

Harrington, the 2021 Big South Conference Freshman of the Year and 2022 Pitcher of the Year, followed up his first-team All-American season at Campbell University by being taken with the 36th overall selection in the MLB Draft in Los Angeles. Harrington will join the Pittsburgh Pirates' organization as he embarks on a pro career.

He has come a long way since the COVID-19 pandemic aborted his senior season at Southern Lee. Harrington was already known as a college prospect and there was no doubt he would play at that level, but there were some doubts about him and he had to earn his scholarship on the field. Harrington walked on at Campbell and immediately proved any naysayers wrong. He earned a spot in the Camels' starting rotation as a true freshman, going 6-3 with a 3.45 ERA over 75 2/3 innings and striking out a man per inning.

He turned up the heat this season, literally, as he gained significant velocity on his pitches, as a draft-eligible sophomore, shot up MLB prospect lists.

Harrington was named the 2022 Big South Pitcher of the Year and a unanimous all-American by all major publications, including a D1Baseball first-team all-American.

The righty led the nation as the only pitcher with 12 wins this season, going 12-2 with a 2.53 ERA and 0.94 WHIP. He struck out a program-record 111 batters while walking just 18. Harrington ended his season by pitching the Camels to win over Georgia Tech in the Knoxville Regional of the NCAA baseball tournament.

His repertoire inclues a fastball that sits in the low-90s, but can top out at 96. He throws both a two-seam and four-seam fastball and also changes speeds effectively, featuring a slow curve, and change-up and slider that both clock in the mid-80s. Batters hit just .145 when they tried to hit Harrington's slider during the 2022 season.

"I think he's got some natural ability to this point," Pirates senior director of amateur scouting Joe DelliCarri said to MLB.com. "Most importantly, I think he's a learner. He's well made, he's very detail-oriented and everything he does probably comes to the forefront."

He was the second Camel taken this year, joining Zach Neto at 13th by the Angels. Harrington's selection made Campbell the first program to have two players taken in the 2022 draft. He and Neto are the first time Campbell has ever had two players taken in the first round, and are the two highest picks in program and Big South Conference history.

Harrington is the first Campbell pitcher to be drafted since 2019, when Seth Johnson, Tyson Messer and Michael Horrell were all selected. He is the highest drafted pitcher ever from Campbell, coming in four picks ahead of Seth Johnson (R1, P40) in 2019. He went higher than MLB's scouting service expected, as they had tabbed him as the 45th-best prospect in the draft.

Harrington was one of two college pitchers chosen early in the draft by the Pirates, who are seeking help for a major-league pitching staff that ranks 12th out of 15 National League teams in ERA. The Pirates chose Florida hurler Hunter Barco eight spots after Harrington. College pitchers tend to have shorter development times than high-school draftees, and the Pirates will hope both pitchers arrive by the time Pittsburgh anticipates being ready to contend in two or three years.