Jared Keith Jones...Is a 2020 graduate of La Mirada (Calif.) High School...Was rated by Baseball America as the No. 41 draft prospect (#55 by MLB Pipeline) in 2020...Posted an 0.82 ERA and 28 strikeouts in 17.0 innings as a senior at La Mirada High School, where he also hit .394 with 32 extra base hits and 59 RBI...Was a three-time member of USA Baseball¡¯s junior national teams...Finished his high school career with a 20-6 record and 0.89 ERA while posting a .150 batting average against¡Went 7-1 with an 0.77 ERA and 94 strikeouts in 64.0 innings while also batting .457 (43-for-94) with three home runs and 16 RBI as a junior at La Mirada...Was the 2019 Perfect Game/Rawlings Two-Way Player-of-the-Year for the state of California...Went 7-2 with an 0.80 ERA as a sophomore¡Was ranked 20th nationally by Perfect Game among the class of 2020 high school top 500 national rankings...Was a 2020 pre-season Perfect Game All-American...Was a member of the 2016 15U USA National team that won a bronze medal at the World Baseball Softball Confederation World Cup in Iwaki, Japan...His father, Keith, was drafted by Arizona in 1997 and spent two years as an infielder in the Diamondbacks system...Signed by Brian Tracy.
2024
Made the Opening Day roster and made his Major League debut on 3/30 at Miami; started and won his first big league game (5.2ip/3er)...Struck out 10 batters in his debut; the most by a Pirates pitcher since Tim Wakefield on July 31, 1992, and one shy of the club record set by Nick Maddox on Sept. 13, 1907...Also became the 31st pitcher (19th in the National League) since 1900 to record 10 or more strikeouts in his MLB debut; the last to do it was Freddy Peralta of the Brewers on May 13, 2018...Started the Home Opener on 4/4 vs. Baltimore and suffered his first loss (6.0ip/2er)...Struck out at least seven batters in each of his first five starts, matching the Major League record for most such games to start a career and the second Pirate to do so, joining Pittsburgh¡¯s Jose DeLeon (July 23-Aug. 10, 1983), Washington¡¯s Stephen Strasburg (June 8-28, 2010) and New York¡¯s Masahiro Tanaka (April 4-27, 2014)...Did not walk a batter in 21.1 consecutive innings from 4/5-22; the fifth-longest streak by a Major League pitcher within their first five career games since 1971...Won his second decision on 4/22 vs. Milwaukee (6.0ip/1er)...Induced 25 swing-and-misses on 4/22, matching the most by a Pirates pitcher in a single game since pitch data started being tracked in 2008; A.J. Burnett (Sept. 21, 2013) and Francisco Liriano (Sept. 11, 2014) are the others to accomplish this feat...Tossed 5.0+ innings and allowed three or fewer runs in each of his five career games, matching the most by a Pirates pitcher to start their career; joining Nick Maddox (1907), Cy Blanton (1934-35), Pascual Perez (1980- 81) and Gerrit Cole (2013)...Pitched 7.0 scoreless innings, allowing only one baserunner (was perfect thru 5.0ip) while striking out 10 batters and walking none on 5/4 vs. Colorado (no-decision)...His 10 strikeouts on 5/4 and 3/30 matched him with Jose DeLeon (1983) as the only two Pirates to whiff 10 or more batters twice in their first seven MLB starts...It also marked the fourth time Jones recorded seven or more strikeouts without a walk; the most ever by a MLB pitcher in the first seven starts of his career...Became the first Pirates pitcher to record an outing of 7.0+ scoreless innings, one or fewer hits, 10 strikeouts and zero walks on 5/4...Pitched 5.0- plus innings and allowed three or fewer earned runs in each of his first 10 career starts, matching Gerrit Cole¡¯s club mark set in 2013; he became the ninth player since 1900 to put up those numbers in each of his first 10 career games and the first since Masahiro Tanaka in 2014...Tossed 6.0 scoreless innings and won a 1-0 decision over Tyler Glasnow and the Dodgers at PNC Park on 6/4...Was placed on the 15-day injured list on 7/4 with a right lat strain...Set the club record for most strikeouts by a rookie prior to the All-Star break with 98 (previous mark was 79 by Cy Blanton in 1935)... Began a rehab assignment with Indianapolis on 8/8 at Nashville...Was reinstated from I.L. on 8/27...Struck out nine batters and retired the final 16 batters he faced while winning his last game on 9/8 vs. Washington...Went 4-3 with a 2.87 ERA (69.0ip/22er) in 12 starts at PNC Park and 2-5 with a 5.81 ERA (52.2ip/34er) in 10 starts on the road.
2023
Entered the season rated as the organization¡¯s No. 11 prospect according to Baseball America¡Attended big league camp as a non-roster invitee¡Finished tied for the organizational lead in strikeouts (146) along with Thomas Harrington (his 3.85 ERA was also the third-lowest among Pirates farmhands with at least 90.0 innings pitched)...Began the year with Double-A Altoona, where he earned the team¡¯s Pitcher of the Year Award after allowing two runs or fewer in each of his 10 starts¡Was placed on the seven-day injured list on 4/23 (retro to 4/21) due to lower back spasms¡Was reinstated from the injured list on 5/10¡ Pitched 6.0 no-hit innings before giving up a solo home run in the seventh and losing a 2-0 decision on 6/8 at Richmond...Was promoted to Indianapolis on 6/20 and made his Triple-A debut that night vs. Columbus...Finished the month of July tied for the second-most strikeouts (32) in the International League¡ Struck out a season-high 10 batters while allowing one run in 6.0ip on 8/27 vs. Iowa (his third career double-digit strikeout game)...Recorded a 1.02 ERA (17.2ip/2er) in his final three starts with Indianapolis...Led all pitchers at the Triple-A level with 90 strikeouts from 7/1 through the end of the season.
2022
Spent the entire season with High-A Greensboro¡Led the South Atlantic League in starts while also finishing second in innings pitched, fourth in batting average against (.246), sixth in WHIP and seventh in ERA¡Led all Pirates farmhands in strikeouts, which were the most by a Pirates Minor Leaguer since Luis Escobar recorded 168 during the 2017 season¡Struck out seven batters in 3.1 innings while allowing one run in his season debut on 4/12 at Winston-Salem¡Scattered two hits in 5.0 scoreless innings in his next outing while also striking out eight batters to earn his first win on 4/17 at Winston-Salem¡Finished the month of April with 26 strikeouts in 16.0 innings, tied for the fourth-most punchouts in the South Atlantic League¡Allowed a combined nine runs, including four home runs, in 7.2 innings in his last two starts in April¡Earned the win in his first outing of May before losing three of his next four starts during the month¡ Recorded the second double-digit strikeout game of his career with 10 punchouts on 5/28 at Asheville¡Went 0-4 in 10 starts from 5/11 to 7/2 before winning on 7/8¡Went 3-0 in his final four starts during the month of July¡Recorded a 2.49 ERA (21.2ip/6er) in his final five starts.
