Pittsburgh Pirates Sign Second Round Pick Jared Jones

The Pittsburgh Pirates lock down their second round pick by offically announcing they have signed pitcher Jared Jones

A few days ago, the Pittsburgh Pirates announced they signed first round pick, Nick Gonzalez. On the 27th, they were able to lock down Logan Hoffman, and earlier today signed first round pick Carmen Mlodzinski. Now, they have announced they have signed their second round pick, Jared Jones, as announced by Jim Callis:

The Pittsburgh Pirates signed Jones to $2.2 million, over slot value of around $1.7 million. Jones was selected as the 44th overall pick in the draft. Jones is a right handed pitcher out of La Mirada High School. Jones has a three pitch mix. Currently that includes a fastball, slider and change up. MLB Pipeline gives his slider and fastball both above average grades at 55 (slider) and 60 (fastball).

Jones can consistently throw the fastball into the mid-to-high 90’s, usually sitting in the 96-97 MPH marks. He can also throw the pitch with a bit of movement. His slider sits in the low-80’s, in the 80-82 MPH range. He can get a good amount of swings and misses with it according to MLB Pipeline. Although it is the worst of his pitches, his change-up still is given an average grade of 50. Jones can throw it for about 85-88 MPH. While it’s not his best pitch, it is a firm off-speed pitch and gives him a third pitch to his repertoire.

However, he can get a bit wild at times. Pipeline gives his control a grade of just 40. Not unusal for a young pitcher. The 18-year-old has also seen time in the outfield. Ovbisously, he has a great arm for an outfielder, but his future is on the mound.

After Jones signs, the Pittsburgh Pirates will have signed four of their 2020 draft picks. According to Fangraphs, Jones will become the Pittsburgh Pirates’ 25th best prospect in their organization.