Pirates Rookie Pitcher Dominant In Historic Performance

Despite not factoring into the decision, Pirates rookie pitcher Jared Jones delivered a historic performance in Saturday’s win against the Rockies. Given his historically great start to his career, it’s hard to believe that Jared Jones (2-3) has a losing record. 

After a modest showing in his last outing, the rookie right-hander was nearly perfect against the Rockies on Saturday. Jones went seven scoreless innings, allowing just one hit while striking out 10 batters and walking none. He got 17 whiffs on 96 pitches and reached 100 mph on his fastball before receiving a standing ovation as he walked off the mound.

His electric performance on Saturday put him in multiple categories of team and league history. Jones became the first pitcher in Pirates history to throw seven shutout innings with one hit, no walks, and 10 strikeouts. At 22 years and 237 days old, Jones is the second-youngest Pirates pitcher with 10 strikeouts and no walks in a game. He is also the first pitcher since 1901 with 50 strikeouts and five or fewer walks in his first seven career starts.

Pirates Rookie Jared Jones Makes History

Pittsburgh has been trying to manage his workload as a rookie who pitched just 126 ⅓ innings last season. Jones was ready when Pirates manager Derek Shelton let him pitch the seventh for the first time in his career.

“Obviously, I’ve had a short leash before, which was to protect me,” Jones said. “Having him let me go out for the seventh, yeah, it pumped me up.”

Jones added another pair of strikeouts in the seventh finishing one of the Pirates most dominant starts in recent memory.