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3 Pirates pitching prospects who became more important after Jared Jones' injury

The Pirates are going to be without Jared Jones for the first few months of the 2025 campaign. But his absence makes these 3 non-Bubba Chandler pitching prospects more important to the Pirates' depth chart.
ByNoah Wright|
Baltimore Orioles v Pittsburgh Pirates
Baltimore Orioles v Pittsburgh Pirates | Christopher Pasatieri/GettyImages
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1. Po-Yu Chen

Po-Yu Chen enters 2025 as one of the Pirates’ best-underrated prospects, with only FanGraphs including him as one of their top 30 prospects (even on that list, he's only sitting at No. 30). The Bucs signed the right-hander out of Taiwan during the 2020-2021 offseason. Now, he’s on the verge of potentially making his MLB debut this season.

Chen has already pitched this year, as he was used out of Chinese Taipei’s bullpen in the World Baseball Classic qualifier this spring against South Africa. He only pitched three innings, but they were three masterful innings, as he only allowed one walk, no runs, and struck out four opponents. But what was more promising is that Chen saw an uptick in velocity. His sinker sat at 93.6 MPH and topped out at 94.8 MPH. Chen also will throw a four-seam fastball, a splitter that is a plus offering, and a curveball that averaged out with around 3000 RPM of spin in his WBC qualifier debut.

Chen spent the entire 2024 season at Double-A Altoona. April was rough for the Taiwanese right-hander, as he walked seven batters, allowed three home runs, and put up a whopping 13 earned runs in just 14.2 innings pitched. Despite getting off on the wrong foot, Chen quickly turned things around in the month of May through the end of the season.

Chen’s final 119.1 innings of the year yielded a respectable 3.54 ERA, 4.00 FIP, and 1.23 WHIP. His K% of 17.8% was a downturn from previous seasons, as he struck out about a quarter of his opponents in both 2022 and 2023. Still, he maintained a strong 7.2% walk rate (where the league average was 9.5%), and he carried an 0.68 HR/9 ratio in last season's campaign.

If Chen’s improved velocity isn’t just a one-game wonder, and thanks in part to a short sprint in the WBC qualifier, this could be a huge step forward for him in 2025. Now, with Jones out, Chen might be one of the arms the Pirates promote if they need a spot start or a multi-inning arm out of the 'pen. With the Pirates' current situation, having a pitcher who can make a start or come out of the 'pen is valuable.

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