Pirates Prospect Jared Jones Developing Potential Third Weapon (+)
Altoona- While I was in Altoona covering the Pittsburgh Pirates Double-A team, there was one pitcher that I wanted to see more than most, and that pitcher was Jared Jones.
Jones, during his first professional pitch, registered 99 on the gun; now, mind you, this was a 19-year-old out of high school at the time in 2021.
Since then, Jones has continued to produce high-velocity and relied on his four-seam/slider combo to get him through his starts.
Fast forward to April 8, 2023, Jones is making his Double-A debut against the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, and he’s rocking a much more mature pitching arsenal.
There were a couple of instances when I was up in the press box, and I had to check with the trackman reader to see what he was throwing, and indeed, Jones now has a changeup and a curveball added to his repertoire.
Jones’ changeup ranged from 82-84 mph, and surprisingly, it had really good control as to a late downward movement.
The curveball was used less often than his changeup, but when he did use it, Jones registered around 78 mph with it and used it more as a show-me pitch.
I’d imagine there’d have to be some nerves for Jones with it being his Double-A debut, and facing much more mature hitters than he did in High-A in 2022.
“I felt pretty good out there,” said Jones. “I tried to keep it as simple as possible. I didn’t want to have that moment where you say to yourself oh my god, I’m in Double-A. I just wanted to go out there and do me, obviously, I’m not used to the cold weather out here, but everything felt really good out there.”
Eventually, we got into some changeup talk.
“I think I made pretty good strides with it over the course of the off-season,” said Jones. “I’m trying to do different things with it, like different grips, and try to figure out which one works best for me, and eventually, I found the one that sticks.”
Coming from Greensboro, I was wondering if maybe Jones would change the way he pitches, going from a home run haven to a bit of a “graveyard” in PNG Field, as some players have called it.
“I really haven’t changed anything, and that’s probably why I gave up so many home runs in Greensboro. I’m really just trying to punch guys out as quickly as possible. That’s always been my game plan, and I plan on keeping that as my game plan for a long time.”
Afterward, Altoona’s manager Callix Crabbe made himself available to the media, and he gave his thoughts on Jones’ first start of the season.
“I thought he was really good,” said Crabbe. “I thought in the first inning he attacked the zone and attacked it well. The home run he gave up was off of a slider; probably not the best location on that pitch, but overall he was really aggressive and threw a ton of strikes.”
Crabbe then led in with Jones’ changeup and the developments he’s seen as a manager.
“In the fourth inning, there was a righty hitter that was in a 1-1 count, and Jones threw a really good 1-1 changeup. I know Cale [Johnson] has been talking to the pitchers and, in particular, Jonesy about when it’s the best time to use a changeup, and obviously, 1-1 is one of those counts where a hitter is trying to get off a pretty good swing, and he executed it really well, and the guy ended up hooking it.”
Crabbe continued.
“The changeup is going to be a really important pitch for him. Obviously, a guy that has the velo that he has, has to have the ability in hitter counts to not just throw a heater there, but to throw a pitch that looks like one which can induce some weak contact or funky swing. That pitch is going to continue to develop, and the usage will continue to go up.”
A couple of things that are holding Jones back are his command and his lack of a third above-average pitch. Based solely on his first start in Double-A, it seems like Jones’ control is getting much better than when I last saw it in 2022, and his changeup is looking like it has the potential to be a plus pitch.
If Jones can continue to use the same energy he used on April 8, he will surely be one of the top Pirates pitching prospects once guys graduate and get called up to the majors.
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