Jones continues to make strong case for big-league rotation spot

BRADENTON, Fla. -- Whether he begins the season at Class AAA Indianapolis or with the big-league club in Miami next week, Jared Jones isn't too concerned about a decision that's out of his control. 

"It’s obviously an exciting time, just hearing all the stuff," said Jones, a top-100 prospect competing for one of the two available spots in the Pirates' opening day starting rotation. "Whatever happens, happens. Triple-A is not the end of the world. Breaking with the team, that’s awesome." 

Derek Shelton said Saturday that a decision has not yet been made regarding Jones' future plans. However, he thinks it could come within the next day. 

Nonetheless, the 22-year-old right-hander is certainly making a strong case for breaking camp as a major-league pitcher. He entered Saturday having thrown 11 1/3 straight innings without allowing an earned run this spring. He extended that streak with five more strong innings in a 4-1 win over the Red Sox at LECOM Park, an outing in which he allowed his third unearned run in six appearances and three starts. 

Jones didn't have his best stuff against Boston, referring to his showing as "a really good bad day." He allowed four hits and walked four batters while striking out five. He threw 53 of 83 pitches for strikes and still managed to find ways to maneuver his way out of danger.

“I think that was one of the key elements I’ve seen that obviously the people here maybe have not seen as much, but he never tucks his tail in the face of adversity," Henry Davis said. "Seeing him do that again, he didn’t have his best stuff, but he pitched through it and gave us all he had.” 

Davis helped Jones keep things in check, too. A third-inning mound visit that followed Jones' third walk of the game allowed him to lock back in and get two big outs to end the inning on a strikeout to Mark Contreras and a flyout to right field that retired Wilyer Abreu. 

"I think he showed maturity, being able to calm himself down," Shelton said. "I was proud of Henry. Henry had a really good mound visit, where he went out and got into him a little bit and kicked him back in gear. That’s a good sign on both accounts of Henry’s awareness and Jared’s ability to take it and be able to bounce back." 

Jones surrendered leadoff walks in each of the first two innings before inducing a pair of double plays and getting the final outs on a strikeout of Tristan Casas in the first and a groundout in the second. 

Jones ran into more trouble in the fourth after allowing a one-out single to Casas and a free pass to Bobby Dalbec. He got Roman Anthony swinging for the second out before allowing an infield single to Connor Wong. A throwing error by Ke'Bryan Hayes allowed Casas to score the unearned run. 

Jones allowed two more hits in the fifth, including a one-out double to Contreras. He struck out Abreu on four pitches and battled through a seven-pitch at-bat with Pablo Reyes before eventually forcing a fly out to center field. 

"It’s extremely promising because the big leagues is hard. You can execute pitches at times and there be a bad outcome because there’s an error made or a ball falls in," Shelton said. "You can execute really well and get good results. The fact that he was able to bounce back is something that was important and good for us to see." 

It was important to Jones, too. 

"Obviously walking that many guys is not what you want to do, but getting out of most of those innings was pretty crucial," Jones said. "It's obviously a lot easier to pitch when you have guys turning double plays behind you almost every inning. It’s easy to get locked back in and attack."

All spring, Jones has showed off the four-seam fastball and his ability to continuously hit 100-plus on the radar gun. While he was averaging around 97 mph with it Saturday, his slider was his more effective swing-and-miss pitch with nine whiffs. Jones struggled with the fastball command, as he turned to it 37 times. He found better results with his slider, which he utilized 35 times. 

"The slider was my go-to pitch," Jones said. "It got me out of a lot of innings today." 

It remains to be seen whether Jones' spring performance will lead to a big-league roster spot. Answers will be provided sooner rather than later. One thing is for certain, though: Jones isn't the same pitcher Davis caught for during their days playing together at Class AA Altoona. This version of Jones, one that has given the Pirates something to think about when making roster decisions over the next few days, is improving with each passing day. 

“He always gets better. He’s so focused and he really worked his butt off all offseason," Davis said. "I was fortunate to catch nearly every 'pen he threw, but seeing it first hand and seeing it come to fruition [was great]. Obviously we’re talking about a guy that, in probably the worst he’s thrown this spring, was 100 miles an hour and got 14 swing and misses. We’re gonna be all right.”