Could Jared Jones make the Pirates opening day rotation?

As Spring Training begins for the Pittsburgh Pirates, the starting rotation remains to be unclear. The Pirates know that Mitch Keller, Marco Gonzales, and Martin Perez will all be in the rotation come Opening Day, but who will follow those three? The options internally all have unclear production rates, those pitchers being Quinn Priester, Luis Ortiz, Roansy Contreras, and Bailey Falter. However, there seems to be one name that intrigues me a lot that could force Shelton into putting him into the starting rotation. That name is Jared Jones. 

Jones, 22, has seen himself climb up the prospect rankings in previous seasons due to his impressive arsenal. He comes into the 2024 season ranked as the Pirates' third top prospect, and MLB’s 62nd ranked prospect. In 2023, Jones showed up his arsenal going 5-9 throughout Double-A Altoona and Triple-A Indianapolis. During 2023, Jones had a combined 3.85 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, and collected 146 K’s compared to just 50 BB’s in 126 ⅓ innings pitched. In the first game of Spring Training, we saw Jones pitch one scoreless inning against the Minnesota Twins. While appearing in this game, Jones faced former Pirate 1B Carlos Santana, young sensation Royce Lewis, Max Kepler, and Ryan Jeffers. Jones got Santana to pop up in foul territory, and Lewis to ground out, though when Kepler came to the plate, he got the best of Jones hitting a single on a 97.9mph fastball. Still, shortly after, Jeffers lined out. During his appearance, Jones topped at 98.9mph on his fastball and threw a cutter with a spin of 2589. Analytical terms aside, the cutter is nuts. Jones made a push late in the season to earn an MLB call-up, however, that wish was never granted by Pirates management. 

Going into 2024, the rotation could be better outside of the top 3 starters. There is still time to add an arm through trade or free agency for the Pirates. Intriguing names that could help the Pirates include Domingo German, Michael Lorenzen, Noah Syndergaard, and Mike Clevinger. However, if the Pirates do not add another arm and prospects like Priester, Contreras, and Ortiz do not step up to the plate in Spring Training, I believe Jones should get a look come Opening Day. Having Jones as the 5th starter in the rotation with his stuff will at least give Pirates fans an intriguing watch during every 5 games.