A Pittsburgh Pirates' Pitching Prospect is Making History, and it's Not Paul Skenes

All the focus for the Pittsburgh Pirates during the early part of 2024 has been on when ace prospect Paul Skenes will make his Major League debut.

However, perhaps we should all be focusing on ace prospect Jared Jones, who is already at the big league level - and dominating.

The 22-year-old put together another stellar start on Saturday afternoon, limiting the Colorado Rockies to no runs on one hit over innings. He walked none and struck out 10 to lower his season ERA to 2.63.

His performance also put him in multiple classes of team and league history, according to Sarah Langs of MLB.com:

Jared Jones’ 122 swings and misses this season are the most by a pitcher in his first 7 career starts in the pitch-tracking era (2008)

prior record: Masahiro Tanaka, 113

h/t the wizard @JasonBernard_

And there's this one...

at 22 years & 272 days old, Jared Jones is the 2nd-youngest Pirates pitcher since at least 1901 with 10+ strikeouts and no walks in a game, older than only:

6/1/76 John Candelaria: 22 y, 208 d

And finally...

Jared Jones thru 7 starts: 52 strikeouts, 5 walks

he’s the 17th pitcher since at least 1901 with 50+ strikeouts in his first 7 career outings

HE’S THE FIRST OF THOSE WITH 50+ STRIKEOUTS AND 5 OR FEWER WALKS!

Because he hasn't played enough games yet to graduate off of it, Jones is still the No. 3 prospect in the organization. Skenes is the No. 1 prospect and is undoubtedly going to debut at some point soon. When he does, the Pirates will have an excellent young nucleus in the rotation.

Continue to follow our Fastball on FanNation coverage on social media by liking us on Facebook and by following us on Twitter @FastballFN