Jones' growth on display as sophomore handles Tigers

BRADENTON, Fla. -- Pirates catchers such as Sunday's starter Henry Davis have an extra pitch to consider this season when calling games for Jared Jones. It¡¯s the two-seam fastball with sinking motion, and it was thrown at just the right moment against the Tigers, who won the game, 10-4, but scored just one run on two hits against Jones in his 2 2/3 innings.

Jones leaned on his four-seamer in his second Grapefruit League start, throwing it on 19 of his 44 pitches and averaging 97.2 mph. He threw just two two-seamers against Detroit, but one of them illustrated why it¡¯s valuable.

It came on the eighth pitch to Jahmai Jones, who had just fouled off a four-seamer, a curveball and a changeup. Jones swung through the 96.3 mph pitch for strike three to end the second inning.

¡°I think that¡¯s the perfect opportunity for him [to throw it], when guys start leaning out over the plate,¡± Davis said. ¡°... It gives him the perfect weapon to push them off and keep his plate his.¡±

Jones allowed a broken-bat double to leadoff batter Trey Sweeney, and then walked the next two batters to load the bases. Did it just take him a few batters to get his feel?

¡°Yeah, I sucked for the first three hitters,¡± Jones said. ¡°Just call it that.¡±

However, he allowed just one run in the first on cleanup hitter Kerry Carpenter¡¯s fielder¡¯s choice. Jones struck out Jace Jung and got Dillon Dingler to fly out and end the inning.

¡°I was proud of him,¡± manager Derek Shelton said. ¡°First three or four hitters scattered the ball, and I think we saw a little bit of maturity out of Jared Jones. And that¡¯s what I told him. Last year, he would¡¯ve gotten more amped up. He would¡¯ve tried to overthrow the ball, and he didn¡¯t.

¡°He stayed in. He made pitches. He executed. ¡­ Overall, I was really pleased with the maturity he showed.¡±

Davis, whose first homer of the spring tied the game at 1 in the third inning, said Jones ¡°knows what he does and put himself in position that he¡¯s got some options.¡±

Jones threw two scoreless innings on one hit and struck out three in his first spring outing on Tuesday. He has a 1.93 ERA in the Grapefruit League with seven strikeouts and three walks in 4 2/3 innings. It¡¯s early, but he¡¯s off to a good start after going 6-8 with a 4.14 ERA in 22 starts as a rookie in 2024.

When asked what he focused on during the offseason, Jones said, ¡°Improving my pitches. Added one, and making sure the two-seamer doesn¡¯t mess with the fastball, then just refining the other ones.¡±

Jones¡¯ two-seamer breaks down, while the four-seamer rises. That up-and-down combo should keep hitters off balance. Jones said he believed batters were sitting on his four-seamer and slider last season, when he threw one or the other 84.1 percent of the time.

When asked where he was on his new pitch, Jones said, ¡°Confident.¡±

He threw four changeups and eight sliders against Detroit, and liked both of those pitches in the game, adding that he got ¡°some pretty bad swings¡± on the change. Jones also mixed in four curves.

"Overall,¡± Davis said, ¡°the stuff was sharp.¡±

Asked about Jones refining his five-pitch repertoire, Shelton said, ¡°I think that¡¯s going to be his next step for his evolution as a pitcher, a good starting pitcher. Being able to do that, being able to repeat that, because you need the full repertoire.¡±

When Shelton came to the mound to remove Jones after 44 pitches, they had a brief conversation. Asked for details, Jones said, ¡°He called me short. He figured out two days ago that he¡¯s like a half-inch taller than me. I think I¡¯m a little bit taller than him. But, yeah, he called me short.¡±

What was his comeback?

¡°I just kind of laughed,¡± Jones said. ¡°It took a second to register that he made a short joke when I was on the mound.¡±

Both the pitcher and manager are listed at 6 feet.

¡°I¡¯m taller than him,¡± Shelton insisted. ¡°We did a measurement the other day, and I am definitely taller than he is.¡±