Rising Young Pitching Duo Gives Pirates Hope for Future (+)
The Pittsburgh Pirates pitching staff has been OK so far this season.
The Pirates’ ERA is 4.28, just 0.02 below the major-league average. The mark also ranks 18th among the 30 MLB teams.
While that is a tad better than the Pirates’ 4.66 ERA last season, which ranked 26th, it’s probably not good enough to win a division title or even gain a wild-card berth.
So, that is a large part of the reason why the Pirates have always been looking just as much to the future as they are at the present despite being in first place in the National League Central when the month began.
The Pirates are rapidly disappearing from contention but the good news is that it looks like Mitch Keller and Johan Oviedo can become above-average big-league starting pitchers. Rookie Luis Ortiz might fall into that category if he can gain better control and command of his pitches.
However, the Pirates need more of those types of starters if general manager Ben Cherington is going to eventually fulfill his goal of building a championship team at the major-league level.
That is why the ascensions of pitching prospects Jared Jones and Anthony Solometo this season have been heartening. Jones was recently promoted from Double-A Altoona to Triple-A Indianapolis and Solometo moved up to Altoona from High-A Greensboro.
Jones, a right-hander, is just 21 years old. Solometo is a year younger. Both are at an age where they should seemingly still have plenty of growth ahead.
Selected in the second round of the 2020 amateur draft following his senior year of high school in La Miranda, Calif., Jones pitched to 4.64 and 4.62 ERAs at the Class A level in his first two professional seasons.
However, Jones has blossomed this year as evidenced by his 2.23 ERA in 10 starts and 44.1 innings. His 1-4 record is more attributable to him pitching the minimum five innings necessary to get credit for a win just three times as the Pirates have been careful not to overwork him.
Jones has struggled a bit with Indianapolis, going 0-1 with a 5.06 ERA in two starts but going to Triple-A is a big jump for a 21-year-old. However, he is definitely on the rise and Baseball America recently ranked him as the 82nd-best prospect in the game.
“He’s shown four pitches,” Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said of Jones. “He’s shown an ability to get strikeouts, but also get hitters out in other ways. Really good athlete, competitor. He’s just growing up as a pitcher. We’ve known about the talent and the competitor for a while, but he’s just really matured, continuing to mature and likes to be on the mound. He’s got a good look on his face when he’s out there. He’s had a good year and I’m excited for him.”
Solometo was also a second-round pick, selected in 2021 from Bishop Eustace Prep School in Pennsauken, N.J. He made a smooth transition to professional baseball with a 2.64 ERA last season in 47.2 innings with Low-A Bradenton.
In 12 starts with Bradenton this year, Solometo had a 2-3 record and a 2.30 ERA in 12 starts and 58.2 innings. He has pitched well in his first two starts for Altoona, going 0-1 with a 3.60 ERA in two starts while striking out 13 in 10 innings.
MLB.com just placed Solometo at No. 100 in their latest prospect rankings.
“Greensboro is a difficult place to pitch as we all know, so I think the performance probably pops even a little bit more because it was in Greensboro,” Cherington said. “In addition to that, we have a lot of faith in his maturity, his routine. He’s been ahead of his years since the day he signed as far as being on top of the right stuff, and knowing what he needs to do to prepare. So, we were confident both in the on-field part and just as a person, as a mature young man that he would be ready, and we felt like it was a good time to challenge him (with a promotion).”
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