Report: Pirates Pitcher Close to Return
PITTSBURGH -- Though the Pittsburgh Pirates' playoff hopes are all but crushed, one of their promising young players is nearing a return to the big leagues after missing over a month with an injury.
Right-handed pitcher Jared Jones completed the third start of his rehab assignment with Triple-A Indianapolis on Tuesday, throwing 73 pitchers over five innings against the Columbus Clippers, who are a Cleveland Guardians affiliate.
Jones was his dominant self throughout the outing, striking out 10 batters while allowing just one hit and one walk. Indianapolis eventually lost 2-1 in extra innings, though Jones' performance had little bearing on that outcome.
His four-seam fastball topped out at 99.5 miles-per-hour with an average velocity of 97.6 miles-per-hour, which is right around his season average. He threw the pitch 52% of the time while mixing in his slider at a 33% rate, with those two offerings generating a combined 15 whiffs and nine called strikes.
Jones turned to his curveball and changeup 11 times, though hitters only swung at those two pitches once while they were called for strikes five times.
According to Baseball Savant, Jones allowed just one hard-hit ball on the night. His dominant showing comes on the heels of a pair of rough outings against the Nashville Sounds and St. Paul Saints to begin his rehab assignment, in which he allowed a combined six earned runs and eight hits over six innings of work.
Jones was placed on the injured list on July 4 with a Grade 2 lat strain after being pulled from his start against the St. Louis Cardinals on July 3. He was initially shut down for two weeks before throwing a pair of bullpen sessions and a live batting practice at the beginning of August before joining Indianapolis.
The 23-year-old cracked the Pirates' Opening Day roster this year and made his MLB debut against the Miami Marlins on March 30 in a 9-3 Pittsburgh win, recording ten punch outs and allowing three runs over 5 2/3 innings.
Jones has a 5-6 record and 3.56 ERA across 16 starts with Pittsburgh this season.
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JACK MARKOWSKI