Fastball

Pittsburgh Pirates Rookie is Leading the League in This Important Category in Early Going

As the Pittsburgh Pirates continue their rebuild in 2024, rookie pitcher Jared Jones has been a nice addition to the roster. The young righty has put up solid strikeout numbers and is also leading the league in this impressive category early on.
Brady Farkas|
Apr 16, 2024; New York City, New York, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Jared Jones (37)
Apr 16, 2024; New York City, New York, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Jared Jones (37) | Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

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Pittsburgh PiratesPittsburgh Pirates

As they look to continue their rebuild in 2024, the Pittsburgh Pirates are out to a 13-13 start.

Pittsburgh signed and acquired a number of veterans this offseason with the hope of being more competitive, and they also continue to entrust young players like Henry Davis, Ke'Bryan Hayes and Oneil Cruz.

Furthermore, top pitching prospect Paul Skenes is seemingly getting closer to making his Major League debut this season. However, it's been another top prospect who is currently helping soldify the Pirates' rotation.

Jared Jones made the rotation out of spring training and is off to an excellent start, going 2-2 so far with a 2.79 ERA. The former second-round pick has 39 strikeouts in 29.0 innings.

He's also leading qualified pitchers in this unique category, according to Sarah Langs of MLB.com:

Lowest pct of PA reaching 3-ball count, 2024 min 100 batters faced:

Jared Jones: 8.0%
Tanner Houck: 10.0%
Zach Eflin: 10.9%
Kyle Harrison: 11.4%

The lack of walks has also contributed to Jones's 0.83 WHIP at this point in the season. With all the focus on velocity and pitch movement, it sometimes get lost that the most important thing in baseball is still simply throwing strikes, and thus far Jones has shown the ability to do that.

Eventually, when Skenes gets to the big leagues, he and Jones should form a nice young tandem, alongside veteran Mitch Keller, who signed a contract extension this offseason.

The Pirates will be on the road this weekend taking on the San Francisco Giants. First pitch on Friday is set for 10:15 p.m. ET.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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