Pirates' Jared Jones Flirts With Perfection
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PITTSBURGH — Jared Jones made a statement in his latest start for the Pittsburgh Pirates, one that put the rest of the major leagues on notice.
Jones threw six perfect innings against the Atlanta Braves at PNC Park on July 8, marking the best start of this season and of his career as well, as he did almost everything right.
He also posted eight strikeouts, most of the season, and did so over 77 pitches, marking an incredibly efficient outing.
Jones didn't go further than the six innings, becoming the first Pirates pitcher to throw six perfect innings and depart with it intact, but the team is still remaining cautious with their starting pitcher after returning from injury.
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The Pirates brought Jones back on May 29 after more than a year-and-a-half removed from his previous MLB start, after dealing with a right elbow injury and then internal brace surgery.
Jones went the furthest he has gone in a game since his return, six innings vs. the Braves, and has only breached 80 pitches once, when he threw 81 pitches over 4.2 innings vs. the Cincinnati Reds at PNC Park on June 27.
Pirates manager Don Kelly said postgame that they're keeping Jones around five innings, making the exception for this start since he was so efficient, and around 80 pitches, which is consistent with his usage so far.
Kelly also noted that it wasn't easy taking out Jones, as if it was almost anyone else, they keep him going out there, but that they can't risk further injury to their starting pitcher after just coming back from surgery
“Yeah, it’s a tough one, man, and I think that we’ve talked about it before. Health is the most important thing, winning the game and then personal accomplishments, third, and wanting guys to stay healthy," Kelly said.
"Health is the number one things with these guys because we need Jared for the rest of the season throwing the ball like that. Trying to push him right now when he’s only had five-ups, there’s just no way.”
Pirates general manager Ben Cherington spoke prior to this outing about Jones and that they'll keep track of what he does this season to determine the plan going forward.
Cherington anticipates pitches restrictions, but that these will keep him in outings long enough to make an impact and prevent them from shutting him down, maintaing his role in the starting rotation the rest of the season.
"I think we want to keep an eye on it this year, first year back and I would say, we think he’ll have pitch counts that allow him to get far enough into games that he can win in the role he’s in," Cherington said.
"We don’t want to shut him down or anything like that. We want him to continue pitching for the rest of the year. We’ll be mindful of it. We think he’s in a good spot. Physically he’s recovering well. Velo’s there.
"To me, he’s done a lot of good things on the mound. Maybe a little bad luck here and there. There’s still some command and execution stuff that takes a little bit of time coming off the rehab. We feel like he’s in a good spot physically, and he’s on the right track."
Jones Goes 1-2 Punch vs. Braves
It was quite a simple plan for Jones against the Braves, throw the four-seam fastball and slider and dominate.
Jones did just that, throwing his fastball 55 times and slider 20 times, while throwing his changeup and curveball just one time each.
It worked out well, as he induced weak contact, with two hard hit balls on 10 batted ball events, generated 14 whiffs on 43 swings (33%) and threw first pitch strikes on 11 of his 18 batters (61%).
"Just went back to the bread and butter: fastball-slider," Jones said postgame. "One changeup, but fastball-slider the entire game and just kind of felt like myself out there again."
His slider was also excellent, generating seven whiffs on 12 swings (58%) and as five of his eight strikeouts, even with him almost giving up a home run to former Pirates catcher Joey Bart on it.
Jones wasn't mad at all following the game and even brushed off a moment between him and Kelly after his sixth inning, where Kelly stopped him before the tunnel, noting that they were just, "messing around."
It's not easy for any pitcher to come out in that situation, but Jones knows his situation and was understanding of it postgame.
"It does suck," Jones said. "Something's cool coming on, but I'm on what, my eighth start off of surgery? I completely understand it and it is what it is."
Jones has now had solid back-to-back starts, as he allowed one run over four innings with six strikeouts in the 6-1 win over the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park on July 2.
He has a 1-1 record in eight starts and brought down his ERA to 4.64, as well as his batting average allowed to .230 and WHIP to 1.21, with 37 strikeouts to 11 walks.
Jones may not have gotten the chance to throw the first ever perfect game for the Pirates, but him maintaining this level of pitching will be huge for the team if he can keep it up.
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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.