One Major Cause for Concern with Pirates' Jared Jones
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PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Pirates right-handed starting pitcher Jared Jones is one of the more exciting arms when he's on his game, but his recent approach may be hurting him.
Jones has followed up a great July with two poor starts in August in the 4-2 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Field on Aug. 4 and in the 11-1 defeat to the New York Mets at PNC Park on Aug. 9.
He gave up eight hits, three runs and two home runs over four innings vs. the Brewers and then allowed a career-high eight runs over three innings against the Mets, bringing his ERA up to 5.03 from 3.81 in just two starts.
Jones is in danger of getting back to his form prior to July, with a 5.76 ERA over his first six starts through the end of June, and his pitch mix choices could be playing a role in his struggles.
What's Going on With Jones' Pitch Mix
It's been a big change for Jones over his past six starts from his first seven starts, particularly when it comes to how he deploys his arsenal.
Jones has relied almost entirely on his four-seam fastball and slider over his last six starts, beginning with his six perfect innings vs. the Atlanta Braves at PNC Park on July 8.
It worked for him in that game, clearly, throwing 55 fastballs and 21 sliders, with just one changeup and no curveballs across 77 pitches.
Jones increased his four-seam fastball and slider usage at 14.1% and 7.9%, respectively, and dropped his changeup and curveball usage 12.4% and 9.7%, respectively.
Jared Jones' Pitch Mix Over Last Six Starts
Pitch | Usage |
|---|---|
Four-Seam Fastball | 246/463 (53.1%) |
Slider | 183/463 (39.5%) |
Changeup | 25/463 (5.4%) |
Curveball | 9/463 (1.9%) |
Jared Jones' Pitch Mix in First Seven Starts
Pitch | Usage |
|---|---|
Four-Seam Fastball | 195/500 (39%) |
Slider | 158/500 (31.6%) |
Changeup | 89/500 (17.8%) |
Curveball | 58/500 (11.6%) |
Making this change was great for Jones in his first four starts before his struggles in August, with a 1.96 ERA and five earned runs allowed over 23 innings pitched, nine hits and two home runs allowed, with 27 strikeouts to four walks.
Jones then struggled with hard-hit rates, as the Brewers and Mets combined for 14 hard hits on 28 batted ball events, a 50% hard-hit rate.
The Pirates' starting pitcher was hard on himself, noting his lack of command on his pitches and loss of velocity, averaging about a tick less on both his fastball and slider.
“Just everything, got behind just about everybody today," Jones said after his start vs. the Mets. "Feel like I really couldn’t control any at bats. Stuff just got away from me and I couldn’t make an adjustment."
Should Jones Change His Strategy?
Jones made the smart decision in his outing vs. the Braves and went with what worked for him in that start.
Doing so got him going and allowed him to finally put together a good string of starts with the chance of maintaining that success for the future.
Jones spoke back after his last start in July, a 3-0 loss against the Arizona Diamondbacks at PNC Park on July 29, about why he didn't throw his two offspeed pitches and didn't give the most encouraging answer.
"Yeah, again, tried to throw the curveball and changeup and couldn’t throw it for a strike, so, sticking with what I know,” Jones said.
Jones' words are worrisome, as him not being able to throw those pitches isn't a good sign for the future.
He needs to throw these two pitches again, as being a starting pitcher with just two pitches isn't the greatest strategy and also isn't sustainable for long-term success.
Pirates manager Don Kelly said that pitching coach Bill Murphy has talked about this with Jones and they want to see a change.
"Changeup has been good for him," Kelly said. "And something that I know Murph talked about today, an adjustment that needs to be made."
It's obviously not the easiest thing to come back to full strength, especially coming off a serious injury that saw him miss the entire 2025 season and the first two months of this season.
Jones is also making these changes mid-season, which is not easy while also dealing with an innings restriction and a pitch limit, so it's understandable that he would rely solely on what is working.
The good thing for Jones is that his fastball and slider are great pitches, plus he also showed confidence after his last start vs. the Mets that he can turn things around.
“Yeah, I think the positive side for me at least is I put myself in a hole before this year and I dug my way out of it," Jones said. "Just going down, seeing what has physically changed or mechanically whatever has changed and go from there.”
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Dominic writes for Pittsburgh Pirates On SI, Pittsburgh Panthers Pn SI and also, Pittsburgh Steelers On SI. A Pittsburgh native, Dominic grew up watching Pittsburgh Sports and wrote for The Pitt News as an undergraduate at the University of Pittsburgh, covering Pitt Athletics. He would write for Pittsburgh Sports Now after college and has years of experience covering sports across Pittsburgh.