CINCINNATI -- After seeing Jared Jones get Ty France swinging with an 0-2 slider out of the zone to lead off the fifth inning Saturday afternoon, Derek Shelton made his way out to the mound alongside assistant athletic trainer Tony Leo to pay the 23 year old a visit. The Pirates had just experienced a lengthy top of the fifth inning on a hot day in Cincinnati and, after not liking the velo on Jones' first-pitch fastball at 91 mph, Shelton elected to check on his status.
"Yeah, just checking in, seeing how I was doing," Jones said. "Wanting to make sure I was healthy out there and I was."
Despite the dip in velocity, which was frequent enough on this day to result in Jones averaging 1.4 mph slower with nearly 50 four-seam fastballs in comparison to his season average, Shelton allowed him to finish out a clean fifth inning in the Pirates' 7-1 loss to the Reds at Great American Ball Park, a decision he defended when I brought it up postgame.
"Just talking to him, seeing where he was at," Shelton said. "The slider that he punched (France) out was still a good pitch. It was just the fastball, and the fastball did tick back up after that. That was the thing that made me feel like he was in an OK spot ... I think it's having a conversation with him, where he was at, what his thought process was. Trusting the conversation right there. If there was any thought there was any injury, we would have made sure we got him out of there."
One of the more concerning pitches Jones threw came after the meeting at the mound. He did get his fastball up to around 93 and 94 mph against TJ Friedl, but a matchup with Santiago Espinal featured heaters at 91, 92 and 95, as well as a pitch tracked as a changeup at 85. Jones confirmed that was actually a fastball he threw there. He put to rest some concern by saying, "I didn't think we had enough time to shake to a new pitch, so I panicked and lobbed the baseball in there."
"I think the breaking stuff was still sharp, which made me feel confident that he was OK and that he was healthy," Shelton said when asked about the difference between Jones before and after the mound visit. "I mean, he ended up going 1-2-3 in that inning and being able to execute and I don't think he threw very many pitches after that, and did throw some good breaking balls."
While Shelton and Jones both claim all is well in terms of the latter's health, there was enough of a reason for those in the entire organization to be worried considering the way in which Jones performed on this day. He lacked execution in matching a season high by allowing six earned runs on six hits -- including homers surrendered to France and Elly De La Cruz -- with three walks and five strikeouts over five innings. He threw 53 of his 90 pitches for strikes and the aforementioned lack of velo with his fastball, which averaged just under 96 mph when not taking into consideration the one at 85 that was credited as a changeup according to Baseball Savant, only added to the level of initial concern. Entering Saturday, Jones was consistently sitting above 97 mph with his heater.
"Just bad. That's all it really is. Just a bad outing," Jones said. "Terrible. Everything was terrible today."
Jones' struggles haven't been limited to this one specific outing, though. In five starts since returning from a nearly two-month long stint on the injured list due to a right lat strain, Jones has posted a 6.15 ERA in allowing 18 earned runs over 26 1/3 innings. Those numbers aren't at all as flattering as the ones he put up over his previous 16 starts when he posted a 3.56 ERA and limited opposing hitters to a .220 batting average. Over 91 innings, he allowed 36 earned runs with 27 walks and 98 strikeouts in 91 innings.
On the season, Jones is 6-8 with an ERA that swelled from 3.85 to 4.14 with this latest performance. He's thrown a career-high 128 1/3 innings when combining his major-league total (117 1/3 innings) with his three minor-league rehab starts (11 innings) and has held big-league hitters to a .231 average while striking out 125 batters and walking 37 with the Pirates.
"I think the biggest thing is early in the year he was really consistent with all of his weapons, and I think what we've seen is a little bit of inconsistency," Shelton said. "Some of that is first major-league season and we're in September. Some of that is he came off an injury and maybe trying to do a little too much at times. But overall, the stuff is still good. We've just got to make sure it's more consistent."
Jones is without question one of the most important arms the Pirates have on their major-league roster. His contributions to the starting rotation will be pivotal to what this team hopes to achieve in the future and there is no doubt that when Jones is healthy and effective, he's capable of contributing as a top-three starter.
That's why, considering he's already missed time due to injury and is now experiencing a drop in velocity, some will question the decision to allow him to pitch to two more batters in a lopsided, meaningless game instead of erring on the side of caution with a week remaining in the season.
Time will tell where the Pirates go from here with Jones, whether they choose to skip his final start of the season or allow him to try to take some much-needed momentum into the offseason with an expected start against the Yankees next weekend. Injury or not, Jones' second-half struggles and diminished velocity provide two key reasons as to why his status is worth monitoring moving forward.
