BRADENTON, Fla. — After the Pirates selected Jared Jones in the second round of this past summer’s draft, MLB Network began discussing and showing how this two-way player from La Mirada High School about 30 minutes south of Los Angeles liked to play the game.
Bat flips, fist pumps and obvious displays of emotion are the norm for Jones, a 19-year-old who later signed for roughly $500,000 above slot value at $2.2 million, forgoing his commitment to the University of Texas.
“That’s always been a big part of my game,” Jones said. “Once I establish myself and show everyone that I belong, I’m definitely going to let my personality out. After a big strikeout, I guarantee you I’m going to end up fist-pumping or screaming or something like that.”
Jones doesn’t lack confidence on the mound or in the field, but he’s also being smart about showing it. During instructional league work at Pirate City in Bradenton, Fla., Jones has been the new guy, the high school graduate surrounded by older players, some of them with college degrees.
So the right-hander has been staying quiet, observing and focusing on the work.
“The main thing here is always getting better,” Jones said. “Everyone tries to push you. I’m obviously one of the new guys, the only high school guy in the draft. It’s a bunch of college dudes here, so I’ve tried to be the listener.
“I don’t really talk much because I’m still kind of nervous, but every single day, even if it’s just playing catch, they really push you. They want you to get better as a person and a player.”
The good news for the Pirates is that has seemingly happened, which is important because Jones does have a few things in his game that he still needs to refine.
The first order of business for someone with a fastball in the mid-to-high 90s has been developing a routine. In high school, Jones said what he did was fairly limited. “I would stretch until my arm felt good, throw about 90 to 120 feet, come in and throw a bullpen,” Jones said.
Now, his routine involves an array of weighted balls and other pieces of plyometric equipment, stretches he’s never done before. The whole thing is way more advanced, but Jones said he’s really grown to appreciate the preparation.
On the mound, the Pirates have been pushing Jones to refine his changeup and curveball, the latter of which he only started throwing during quarantine. (Jared’s father Keith was a Diamondbacks draft pick in 1997, and former major league pitcher Mike Cosgrove is a family friend.)
The issue with the curveball has been arm slot. It’s a terrific pitch, but it sticks out from his other weapons, which creates an easy tell for major league hitters.
“I’m trying to get my arm into a position where I can throw all the other pitches that I’ve been throwing my whole life to sync in with my curveball,” Jones said. “That’s the top priority for us right now.”
Right below that is probably Jones’ changeup, which ranks below his fastball and slider in terms of effectiveness. Ironically, a conversation roughly two weeks ago with 2019 fifth-round pick Grant Ford helped to add some clarity.
In past years, Jones said he was “lost” with his grip, fiddling around with anything and everything. Mitch Keller has been in the same spot recently at the MLB level. Ford noticed that Jones was alternating between a four-seam fastball and a two-seam changeup, which he theorized was contributing to Jones’ inconsistent feel for the pitch.
He was right. Jones stole a two-seam grip from Ford, and so far the results have been excellent.
“I’ve been throwing that for the past [two weeks] and had a pretty big change,” Jones said.
Jones said he’s adjusted to being away from home for the first time fairly well. Although he didn’t grow up playing a ton of video games, he bought a PlayStation 4 before flying across the country and has been occupying his time with “Grand Theft Auto” and “Fortnite” while also watching his hometown Dodgers win the World Series.
The toughest adjustment, Jones said, has been the hitting. Or lack of it.
Jones finished his high school career with a 20-6 record and 0.89 ERA on the mound — he went 7-1 with a 0.77 ERA and 94 strikeouts in 64 innings as a junior, his last full season — but those might not be his favorite numbers.
That same season, Jones played outfield when he didn’t pitch and hit .457. He was named the 2019 Perfect Game/Rawlings National High School Two-Way Player of the Year and actually befriended Reds two-way talent Michael Lorenzen through La Mirada’s Fellowship for Christian Athletes program.
“Man, that one hurt,” Jones said when asked whether he’s been getting any outfield reps at Pirate City. “No, I’m not doing any hitting. One-hundred percent, though, I miss it.”
Jones hasn’t given up hope, telling himself that if he has success on the mound, perhaps the Pirates will let him expand his repertoire. But he’s also smart enough to realize what must happen first.
So for now, Jones has been thrilled to do what he originally set out to do whenever the Pirates made a second, aggressive offer with his signing bonus to get the deal done — experience professional baseball and wring out all of the development opportunity that he can.
“It’s definitely weird,” Jones said of the pro experience. “Being 19 years old, I never thought I would be in this position growing up, but it was always a goal for me. Now that I’m here, it just kind of feels real to me.
“Playing in high school, it’s just fun playing with your friends that you’ve grown up with. Obviously the competition is not always going to be that great. Kind of just ran over teams. Then coming here, there are people who are better than you, and I’ve never really been around that before. It’s been a pretty cool challenge for me to get better.”
Jason Mackey: jmackey@post-gazette.com and Twitter @JMackeyPG.
First Published: October 30, 2020, 2:54 p.m.
