{"id":68096,"date":"2024-03-12T07:00:22","date_gmt":"2024-03-12T11:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=68096"},"modified":"2024-03-11T15:53:04","modified_gmt":"2024-03-11T19:53:04","slug":"pirates-jared-jones-join-starting-rotation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/03\/12\/pirates-jared-jones-join-starting-rotation\/","title":{"rendered":"This Prospect Could Join The Pirates’ Starting Rotation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jared Jones<\/a> is making a strong case for a spot in the Pittsburgh Pirates starting rotation. His manager, Derek Shelton<\/a>, is paying attention.<\/p>\n

Jones, 22, was the Pirates\u2019 No. 2 draft pick out of high school in the 2020 June Amateur Draft. He\u2019s the Pirates’ No. 3 ranked prospect according to MLB Pipeline. Nine of the Pirates\u2019 top 10 prospects will be participating in Thursday\u2019s Spring Breakout game. One of those top 10 is conspicuous by his absence \u2013 and that\u2019s Jones.<\/p>\n

Jared Jones Could Join Pirates Rotation<\/h2>\n

Long Shot<\/h3>\n

Before the season started, Jones seemed to be a long shot to make the major league squad. He began 2023 with the Double-A Altoona Curve, where he had a sparkling 2.23 ERA in 10 starts. In June, he was promoted to the Triple-A Indianapolis Indians<\/a>, where things didn\u2019t go so well. With the Indians, the right-hander was 4-5 with a 4.72 ERA and 1.317 WHIP, despite striking out 10.9 per nine. The word was that Jones had things to work on before he could crack the Pirates\u2019 rotation. There were command issues and concerns that he was a bit of a hothead.<\/p>\n

Putting It All Together<\/h3>\n

Whatever he needed to work on, it\u2019s coming together in the spring. At the close of Sunday\u2019s action, Jones has yet to surrender an earned run and has a 0.818 WHIP in four games covering 7 1\/3 innings. He\u2019s listed at six-foot-one, 190 pounds, but looks smaller. His fastball has been consistently in the 98-100 mph range. His other pitches have good separation from the fastball. The slider comes in at around 88 mph and the curve at 78. Jones is mostly a power pitcher who’s gone after hitters in the spring, although the slider and curve generate a lot of swing-and-miss as well. However, when he\u2019s allowed hits in the spring, it\u2019s mostly because he\u2019s left a breaking pitch up in the zone.<\/p>\n

Jones\u2019s repertoire was on full display in one memorable sequence from Sunday\u2019s game against the Philadelphia Phillies. Jones ran the count to 3-1 against the Phillies\u2019 Carlos De La Cruz<\/a>, a six-foot-eight prospect with plenty of raw power. Everybody in LECOM Park knew the fastball was coming, but Cruz couldn\u2019t catch up with it. Jones finished him off with a slider that De La Cruz helplessly waved at.<\/p>\n

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Jared Jones final line today:<\/p>\n

2.2IP 2H 0ER 3K<\/p>\n

11 swing and miss \ud83d\udc40<\/p>\n

pic.twitter.com\/c4AIohWdm0<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Kody Duncan (@KodyDuncanPGH) March 10, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n