Solid start against Red Sox puts Pirates RHP Jared Jones in position for spot in rotation
Jared Jones pitched on a day he wasn’t supposed to, but the 22-year-old right-hander might have solidified a spot in the Pittsburgh Pirates’ starting rotation in the process.
Jones flashed a four-seam fastball that averaged 96.7 mph and touched triple digits and mixed it with a slider to strike out Boston Red Sox five batters and finish spring training without allowing an earned run.
Over five innings, Jones allowed one unearned run on four hits and four walks as the Pirates defeated the Red Sox, 4-1, on Saturday afternoon in a Grapefruit League game at LECOM Park in Bradenton, Fla.
Jones was scheduled to pitch Friday night against the Baltimore Orioles in Sarasota but was pushed back a day when the game was canceled because of inclement weather. Instead, Jones replaced scheduled starter Chase Anderson, who was granted his release Saturday, and threw 53 of 83 pitches for strikes, generating 10 called strikes and 14 whiffs.
“Coming to the field was an adjustment,” Jones told SportsNet Pittsburgh. “I pitched on a day where you’re not really supposed to, but I think it all panned out pretty well.”
A 2020 second-round draft pick, Jones tied for the team lead with 15 strikeouts in 16 1/3 innings over six appearances this spring, including three starts. None of the three runs he allowed were earned, as Jones posted a 1.04 WHIP and held opponents to a .167 batting average.
Half of his eight walks this spring came against the Red Sox, although Jones showed the ability to recover quickly. He walked the first batter in each of the first two innings, only to get the second to ground into a double play. After walking Eddy Alvarez with one out in the third, Jones got a strikeout and a fly out to end the inning.
“I was just locking back into the game,” Jones said. “It’s, obviously, a lot easier to pitch when the guys behind you are going to turn a double play every single time. The defense behind me makes it easier to get locked back in, so I don’t have to do it myself. I can depend on those guys to get outs for me.”
Jones ran into trouble in the fourth, when Triston Casas singled to right field, advanced to second base on a wild pitch and scored for a 1-0 Red Sox lead after third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes’ error on a two-out single by Connor Wong. Jones then got Marcelo Mayer to ground out to short.
In the fifth, Jones gave up a leadoff single to Alvarez, but Henry Davis threw him out while attempting to steal second. Contreras doubled off the center field wall before Jones struck out Wilyer Abreu and got Pablo Reyes to fly out to center.
The Pirates tied the score in the sixth, when Jack Suwinski singled, stole second base, reached third on a Rowdy Tellez single and scored on Connor Joe’s bases-loaded sacrifice fly off Greg Weissert to right field.
The Pirates took a 4-1 lead in the eighth, after Alika Williams drew a walk, Billy McKinney doubled and Edward Olivares hit Cody Scroggins’ 1-0 sinker 359 feet to right for a three-run home run.
With All-Star right-hander Mitch Keller and lefties Martin Perez and Marco Gonzales expected to fill the top three spots in the starting rotation, Jones was battling for one of the final two spots. He couldn’t help but laugh when asked if he’s nervous about making the Opening Day roster.
“How can I not be?” Jones said. “It’s pretty big news. Whatever happens, happens. That’s how I feel about it.”
