Pirates manager reveals Jared Jones' pitching mentality, sheds light on key aspects of his game

Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Jared Jones had an impressive debut season in 2024 even though he was eventually overshadowed by his fellow rookie teammate Paul Skenes. The 23-year-old right-hander possesses a blazing fastball averaging 97.3 mph, which puts him in the 93rd percentile among all pitchers in the MLB, according to Statcast.

Derek Shelton, the Pittsburgh Pirates manager, feels Jared Jones brings a lot of energy to the mound, and he has the ability to become a dominant pitcher in the major leagues. Nevertheless, Shelton believes the dogged mentality of Jones is his biggest strength as a starting pitcher, and the youngster doesn't get daunted by the opposition.

On Monday, Derek Shelton appeared as a guest on The Chris Rose Rotation podcast from Jomboy Media. He discussed the rookie season of Jared Jones on the show. [from 31:04]

"A ton of energy," Shelton said. "The stuff is really good. The slider's good. The fastball's good. The thing that I like about Jared the most is that he's got that bulldog mentality. Everything is going to be hard coming at you. He's not scared.

"He's gotten overshadowed a little bit," Shelton added. "For the first part of the year, he was one of the best young pitchers, one of the best rookies in the game, until he had the lat injury."

Jones made 22 starts for the Pirates last year and clocked 121.2 innings, posting a 6-8 record with a 4.14 ERA and 132 strikeouts. He was excelling on the mound for the Pirates until he was struck down by a lat injury in July. Unfortunately, Jones was unable to produce at the same level upon returning from the IL the following month.

Derek Shelton praises pirates ace Mitch Keller in development of Jared Jones & Paul Skenes

Paul Skenes and Jared Jones made their MLB debuts for the Pirates last season (Image Source: IMAGN)

The Pittsburgh Pirates have accumulated a highly rated group of young starting pitchers led by Paul Skenes and Jared Jones. Pirates manager Derek Shelton feels the stability provided by Mitch Keller, the ace of their staff, plays a strong role in developing the younger pitchers.

"It's a good core group," Shelton said. "We've got Bubba Chandler coming; we have Thomas Harrington coming. We have pitching that's coming.

"The thing that's really helpful to us, too, is we have Mitch Keller, who is so solid, that takes the ball, makes every start," Shelton continued. "He went through a stretch over the last two years where, I think, it was 55 games of five or more innings. So, when you have that stability at the top of the rotation, it's very helpful for those young guys."

Bubba Chandler and Thomas Harrington are two of the top pitching prospects in the Pirates organization. They are both expected to be called up at some point this season after moving up to Triple-A last year.