3 Pirates call-ups who can serve as second-half trade additions of their own

Many of the Pittsburgh Pirates faithful were quite underwhelmed with their trade deadline acquisitions, but that's just the MO for the Pirates front office.

However, despite missing on Jazz Chisholm, among others, the Pirates have plenty of internal options who could come to the big leagues in the next few weeks. The hope: That they can make a difference for the Pirates' playoff push.

Despite a young, cheap roster, the Pirates are in the NL Wild Card race, and their manager—and the front office—should and likely will act accordingly by elevating the players with big-league potential this season. Here are the farm system prospects we suggest.

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3. Thomas Harrington, RHP, Double-A

The first player on this list is likely the most questionable piece to make his debut this season. That's because he sits in Double-A right now, he began the year with a start in Low-A, and he isn't projected to crack the big leagues until 2025, according to MLB Pipeline.

Of course, I'm speaking about the top 10 Pirates prospect, pitcher Thomas Harrington. Despite not making it past Double-A this season, he has thrown so well at that level that Pittsburgh could elevate him all the way to the big leagues just based off that dominance.

In 2024, the right hander has thrown 71.1 innings, walking just 11 batters while surrendering 59 hits. That gives him a WHIP under 1.00.

His ERA is closer to 2.00 than it is 3.00, and his dominance has been very hard to miss for anyone who pays attention to minor league baseball. If this is your introduction to Harrington, the first thing to know is he's legit.

He has a developed five-pitch arsenal with excellent command. There really aren't very many red flags for the top pitching prospect. He could skip Triple-A and jump right into the Pirates' rotation or be used as a middle relief option.

2. Nick Yorke, 2B/OF, Triple-A

OK, don't be upset about this one. I know Nick Yorke is a trade acquisition, so he doesn't fit the theme of being a home-grown prospect, but he was traded in a prospect-for-prospect deal with the Red Sox. He's been a minor leaguer his entire four-year career, and he's a piece of the Pirates farm system now, so I'm including him in this list of prospects that Pittsburgh could draw from.

Elevating Yorke is a complete no-brainer for Pittsburgh. Their lineup has struggled the entire season with very few consistent offensive pieces being on display for them. Yorke is a flexible defender that can move from infield to outfield. And he's detroying Triple-A pitching.

Across the two Triple-A teams and a stint with Boston's Double-A team, Yorke is slashing .278/.361/.422 with 27 extra base hits. More impressively, he was slashing .310/.408/.490 with 14 extra base hits and six stolen bases with the Red Sox Triple-A team before moving to Pittsburgh.

In all likelihood, if he continues on a hot run in his first two weeks with the Pirates, he will be elevated to the big leagues. Pittsburgh just has too many holes on offense, and Yorke would fill one of them for sure.

1. Braxton Ashcraft, RHP, Triple-A

And here we are, arriving to the most obvious player on this list. The Pirates No. 4 ranked prospect, 24-year-old Braxton Ashcraft, currently pitches for the Pirates' Triple-A affiliate.

Ashcraft is ready for the big leagues and his play backs up that statement. In 11 appearances at Double-A, he held a modest 3.69 ERA with 63 strikeouts and eight walks in 53.2 innings pitched. Not a bad performance by any means. And it was good enough to receive the promotion to Triple-A, where he has dominated.

In four Triple-A appearances (three starts), Ashcraft holds a 0.49 ERA and a 0.98 WHIP in 18.1 innings pitched. He had one earned run on 14 hits and four walks in his time at Triple-A. Nothing about his arsenal, development or production indicates that he needs to stay in the minor leagues for much longer, and he could come to Pittsburgh and be a key piece of a rotation making a postseason push.

The future of this Pirates pitching staff is in the hands of Paul Skenes and Jared Jones. But given the talent at the top of the Pirates farm system, players like Ashcraft and Harrington should join those two hard throwing Pirates very, very soon.