Jared Jones struggled in his first six starts after coming back from his right elbow injury. However, since the start of July Jones has been dominant for Pittsburgh becoming one of the hotter pitchers in the rotation.
The 24-year-old became the third Pirates pitcher over the past 70 seasons to retire at least 30 consecutive batters. The streak ended Saturday during a 7-1 victory over the Cleveland Guardians in the first game of a doubleheader. He allowed one run on three hits and struck out a season-high
nine in five innings.
Jones looked good on July 2 vs the Philadelphia Phillies. In four innings pitched he allowed just two hits and struck out six batters. Then in Atlanta he threw 6 perfect innings with eight strikeouts.
Jones struggled in his first six outings of the season after coming back from the injury, going 1-1 with a 5.76 ERA. Opponents were seeing him and hitting well, hitting .270 and homered five times in 25 innings.
It has been the opposite in his last three outings, opponents are now just 5 for 50 (.100) at the plate. The right-handed pitcher has given up only two runs in 15 innings with 23 strikeouts and three walks.
Jones starting to pitch well is a good sign that he might be coming back fully after the injury. This is looking like his impressive rookie campaign in 2024. He had 132 strikeouts which was sixth in the majors among rookies that season while he went 6-8 with a 4.14 ERA.
The Pirates starting pitching has been solid this season. Paul Skenes and Braxton Ashcraft both making the All-Star game shows how strong they have been. If Jones can continue to pitch well, that would be a scary big threen in their rotation, especially with the Buccos in the middle of the National League Wild Card race.
