Jared Jones appears poised for a resurgent season alongside Paul Skenes near the top of the rotation for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Improving his arsenal will play a big factor in that growth for the young right-hander. Jones teased in a recent Sportsnet Pittsburgh interview with Hannah Mearns that he added a fifth pitch to his mix that he’d debut in his first spring training start for the Pirates.
That start came Tuesday when Jones tossed two scoreless innings with just one hit allowed and three strikeouts. Jones had solid stuff and felt far better about his debut pitch than he did during the offseason.
“I don’t think it sucks like I thought it did, but I think it’s a pretty good pitch so far,” Jones told reporters, per Mearns.
Jones looks to use that pitch more to rebound after his ERA rose over 4.00 last season to better boost a talented top of the Pirates rotation.
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