Pittsburgh Pirates' Rookie Made Major League History in Debut on Saturday

In beating the Miami Marlins on Saturday, Pittsburgh Pirates' rookie pitcher Jared Jones made some recent baseball history. The 22-year-old enters the year as the Pirates' No. 3 prospect overall.

Mar 30, 2024; Miami, Florida, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Jared Jones (37) pitches / Rhona Wise-USA TODAY Sports

The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Miami Marlins on Saturday afternoon, 9-3, after being led on the mound by rookie Jared Jones.

The 22-year-old, who enters the season as the No. 3 prospect in the organization, went 5.2 innings, allowing three earned runs, walking two and striking out 10.

He also made some recent baseball history in his debut, according to Sarah Langs of MLB.com:

JARED JONES

22 swings & misses are the most by a pitcher in his MLB debut in the pitch-tracking era (2008), ahead of:

4/3/08 Johnny Cueto: 21
5/30/13 Alex Colome: 20
5/13/18 Freddy Peralta: 19

h/t the wizard (@JasonBernard_)

JARED JONES

22 swings & misses are the most by a pitcher in his MLB debut in the pitch-tracking era (2008), ahead of:

4/3/08 Johnny Cueto: 21
5/30/13 Alex Colome: 20
5/13/18 Freddy Peralta: 19

h/t the wizard @JasonBernard_ https://t.co/29Z1SWia0k

— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) March 30, 2024

The Pirates have started the season 3-0 after beating the Marlins in the first three games of the year. Pittsburgh went out this offseason and made a commitment to getting better with the intent of being competitive all season, and if Jones can continue to develop, they may be even better than expected.

Former No. 1 overall draft choice Paul Skenes gets all the attention, but Jones will continue to get noticed if he puts up numbers like this.

Here's a portion of his MLB.com prospect profile:

While Jones has learned a lot about the craft of pitching, he’s still coming at hitters with a power repertoire. His fastball averaged 96 mph in 2023 across two levels and flirted with triple digits, missing bats up in the zone. He’s continued to differentiate between his sweeping slider and his curve that features depth, the former thrown in the upper-80s and the latter a low-80s breaker. Both can miss bats. His firm changeup is a fourth pitch, but it’s improved considerably since the start of his career.

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