Pirates All 40: Jared Jones, Diamond in the Rough to Cornerstone

This is one in a series of stories breaking down members of the Pittsburgh Pirates’ 40-man roster.

Jared Jones burst onto the scene in 2024, making the big league club out of spring training as the No. 3 starter in the Pirates’ starting rotation. Still just 23 years old — general manager Ben Cherington drafted him out of high school in the second round of the 2020 MLB Draft — Jones would almost certainly be the most exciting young player in Pittsburgh’s rotation were it not for the presence of a certain Paul Skenes.

While his 6-foot-1, 190 pound frame might not betray it, Jones is every bit the flamethrower, possessing a fastball that averages 97.3 miles per hour and a literally knee-buckling slider that sits in the high 80s. Those pitchers are Jones’ bread and butter. He throws them 49 and 37 percent of the time, respectively, although he’s also working on a curveball and changeup to give himself the traditional starter’s arsenal and have something else to fool opposing batters with.

Jones posted a 4.14 ERA across 22 starts in 2024, his effectiveness hampered down the stretch because of a right labrum strain that caused him to miss nearly two months between down time and his ensuing minor league rehab assignment. His ERA sat at 3.56 before the injury, and he struck out 132 batters total in 121.2 innings of work.

For all the fanfare surrounding Jones’ rookie season, especially before his labrum injury, he still has work to do in order to create a bona fide 1-2 punch with Skenes. While his fastball and slider are some of the nastiest pitches you’ll see in MLB, it’s difficult to go a second or third time through the lineup with only two offerings. Big league hitters will catch on given enough chances.

He’s worked on developing his curveball (and especially his changeup) since his time in the Pirates’ minor leagues,  and has talked about working on Skenes’ viral ‘splinker’ during this offseason. Exactly how he manages to flesh out his repertoire will go a long way toward turning a good career into a truly great one.