The Greensboro Grasshoppers announced a few moves prior to Thursday’s game, one of which includes a high draft pick of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Thomas Harrington has been promoted from the Bradenton Marauders to the Greensboro Grasshoppers. Last year’s 36th overall draft pick has pitched well for the most part in Bradenton, except for a couple of poor outings among his eight starts. He went 4-1, 2.77 in 39 innings, with 40 strikeouts and a 1.10 WHIP.
Harrington was a high draft pick out of college, so Low-A wasn’t a great level for him, especially since the level has looked more like a short-season league recently as far as the quality of play. With smaller rosters, teams have chosen raw upside over polished college players with lower upside. That’s not a bad decision, but it has led to some rough play in Low-A. It’s not the same quality of play as Low-A pre-2020.
Harrington is now where he should be, which will be a much better test for the 21-year-old right-hander, especially in a hitter-friendly park.
Harrington will be joined in Greensboro by infielder Shawn Ross, a minor league signing who we followed during the winter in Puerto Rico this off-season. He has been in Extended Spring Training all year. This will be the debut of the 23-year-old in affiliated ball.
There was an opening for Ross with infielder Mike Jarvis being placed on the 7-day Injured List. He was hitting .229/.322/.496 in 35 games, while seeing time at second base, shortstop, third base and right field.
Reliever Oliver Mateo was released to open a roster spot for Harrington. Mateo is a hard thrower with poor control. He has touched triple digits in the past, though he’s mostly been mid-90s.
The 25-year-old has 177 strikeouts over 96 innings during his career, but that came with a 7.03 ERA and a 1.88 WHIP. Those career numbers are better than the numbers he had in limited time this year, though control issues are part of the reason his time has been limited.
If more moves come up today, we will post them below.
Infielder Domingo Leyba played for the first time in 24 days yesterday for Altoona. He left after one at-bat and he’s headed back to the Injured List.
Altoona called up Norkis Marcos to fill in. Drew Maggi still has two days left in his suspension, so the Curve were down two infielders.
Marcos is just a temporary plug. He has yet to play this season, spending the spring in Extended Spring Training. The 22-year-old had a .592 OPS in 56 games with Bradenton last year.
Indianapolis has placed lefty veteran Caleb Smith on the 7-day Injured List. This is his second trip to the IL this year. He is 2-4, 6.40 in 45 innings, with 38 strikeouts, a .233 BAA and a 1.40 WHIP through nine starts and one relief appearance.
Right-handed pitcher Brandan Bidois has joined Bradenton. The 21-year-old from Australia has impressed scouts when he is healthy, but most of that time has been during his work before/after seasons, including strong reports I received this spring.
He has pitched just six innings since signing in 2019, though he was originally supposed to start playing in 2020, then lost that chance to the canceled minor league season. He was injured for most of 2021 and injured/rehabbing for all of 2022. He’s been working in Extended Spring Training.
Bidois is going to be a reliever for now. He hit 99 MPH in his last outing during Extended Spring Training.
