BRADENTON, Fla. -- "The guy you want," Paul Skenes was telling me, "is right over there."
Imagine that. Meaning that the guy I wanted wouldn't have been the No. 1 overall pick in the most recent MLB Draft, the most heralded pitcher in a decade and, to boot, the man-child donning a big-league uniform in anger for the first time today.
But no, he was right. I'd been seeking out Jared Jones.
And want to hear something nuts?
I could've been seeking out any number of young pitchers in this particular fold for the purpose of putting together this column.
Like Quinn Priester, for instance:
2 easy innings for Priester. #letsgobucs pic.twitter.com/6U2rvGBI2I
— Bridge to Buctober Podcast (@bridge2buctober) February 28, 2024
Kid claims that's a slider, even if it comes with clear properties of a cutter.
Whichever the case, he'd start off his Grapefruit League slate and the Pirates' 6-4 loss to the Tigers on this Wednesday afternoon at LECOM Park with a six-up, six-down, 19-pitch smorgasbord encompassing every slice of his expansive arsenal:
BASEBALL SAVANT
That's neat. And rare, especially so soon into the spring, which I'd bring up afterward:
"The way I see myself being the best in the big leagues, for us, is being able to use everything every day," he'd reply through his omnipresent smile. "I was joking around in the dugout that the curveball wasn't there but, if I'd gone out for a third inning, it would've been."
Even bigger smile with that.
"Those things ... they take time."
They do. That's fair.
I've been tough on Priester. Never more than a year ago when I covered the Pirates' 2019 first-round pick in an exhibition against the Orioles down in Sarasota, and he looked like he'd never met a fastball in his life. Everything was slow, slow, slow ... right up until Baltimore's renowned bashers began bashing. And worse by far, that'd carry into the games that counted, including when Priester was summoned to Pittsburgh for the first time in July and wound up with a 7.74 ERA through 10 starts. Almost all of them were defined by that same pitter-pat approach and, along the path, less and less velocity to those sparse occasions when it'd get used.
I've faulted the Pirates, specifically Oscar Marin, the man responsible for the organization's top-to-bottom pitching philosophies and practices, for that. And I stand by it. Emphatically.
Because it wasn't just Priester. It was Roansy Contreras to an extraordinary extent, plunging by as much as 5-7 mph from a peak of 98 mph in his elite-prospect days. It was Luis Ortiz to a lesser though still tangible extent. It was Priester ... man, it wasn't clear his fastball was even wanted by anyone involved. And all three of these pitchers were -- and are -- too important to simply shrug all that off as coincidence, especially when I've been hearing from people throughout the baseball world skeptical of the instruction and development under Marin.
We're not through a week of exhibitions, but the earliest returns are more encouraging with each passing day. On Monday, Contreras averaged 95.2 mph on his fastball, peaking at 96.2 mph, compared to 94.3 last year and 96.3 back in 2021. On Tuesday, Ortiz averaged 97.7 mph on his fastball, peaking at 98.8 mph, compared to 95.9 last year. And yesterday, Priester averaged 93.3 mph on his fastball, peaking at 94.1, compared to 93.3 last year ... which wasn't nothing when taken in the full context of his command, his bite and the sharpness of his other pitches.
"He was efficient and in the zone, which is something that we need him to be," Derek Shelton would tell me. “Yeah, I mean, we’re early in the spring. Last year, we saw him later in the year. I think the body looks better. He’s grown into it. But yeah, the ball came out of his hand pretty clean.”
Same for Jones, who pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings, struck out two and walked two, and who's getting rave reviews from a lot more folks here than just Skenes for scenes like this:
Jared Jones looked 🔥🔥! #letsgobucs pic.twitter.com/CUadvGl9Rh
— Bridge to Buctober Podcast (@bridge2buctober) February 28, 2024
He's 6 feet tall, but that's 99.6 mph coming from a bigger man's angle, framed beautifully on the outside paint by Jason Delay for the frozen third strike. Highlight of my day, I swear.
“He’s not a big guy, but the ball comes out hot and it comes out with an extra gear in it at times," Shelton would say of Jones. "There’s some deception there because of his size."
Don't get too stoked too soon. He's a baseball baby at 22, and he's holding 82 whole Class AAA innings to his credit. But the Pirates' second-round pick in 2020 can sensibly be projected for an arrival at some stage of this summer. And I'd be dishonest if I didn't share that the internal excitement over his future in Pittsburgh approximates that of ... eh, I'm not typing that onto my screen.
Beyond the size, he's got it all. With something of a snarl that most successful starters have.
When I asked, for instance, about his apparently flying open on a few fastballs in throwing 14 balls among his 29 pitches, he responded flatly and without apology, "I'm just throwing it."
Nice.
It remains to be seen, of course, how much of what's above will apply March 28 or in the months that immediately follow. My prognosis is ... not much, which is why I'll further stand by all three of my aforementioned criticism, my advocation for a significant starter to be acquired for the current rotation, and my preference that at least one spot be committed unconditionally to Priester, Contreras or Ortiz, optimally Contreras since he's out of options.
Bottom line: It's Year 5 for this front office, and there should've been many more young pitchers available than this.
So ... hey, here's another wave, right?
“It’s fun," Shelton spoke of Skenes, Priester and Jones. "I mean, we’ve talked over the last four years about building our system. We’re talking about three guys we drafted fairly high. It’s good to see those guys. I think we’re starting to see the depth of our system, which is really important. These guys are getting close to Pittsburgh, which is important. I was excited to see Jones pitch the last two days. I’m excited to see Skenes pitch."
“Yeah, I mean, we’re all really good pitchers," Jones would say. "It’s fun to be in the same clubhouse with a lot of these guys. We all just have the same mindset of getting after it and competing. It’s fun to see.”
Ideally, it'll be fun that won't be hard to find in a year or two.
• Al Martin days till Miami.
• Thanks for reading my baseball stuff. Plenty more to come down here.
• Audiophiles Awareness Day:
