Jared Jones puts together a strong final month for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The 2026 season hasn’t been an easy one for the Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Jared Jones
Jones started the season on the injured list as he continued to rehab from his UCL surgery that he underwent in May 2025. The 25-year-old didn’t even make his first big-league start until the final week of May.
Jones’ early returns this season weren’t great either. After his first six starts, the right-hander had a 5.76 ERA and a 1.44 WHIP and was giving up a ton of hard contact.
A slow start wasn’t unexpected, but it still raised some concerns about how long it could take for the young Pirates arm to return to form.
The good news in Jones’ campaign is that he turned his season around and even ended it on a high note this week in what could potentially be his final start until 2027.
Aug 22, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Jared Jones (17) pitches during the second inning at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn ImagesOn Tuesday evening, Jones took a perfect game into the fifth inning against the St. Louis Cardinals. He ended up throwing seven innings of shutout baseball and struck out nine hitters, too.
After this outing, Jones dropped his season ERA to 3.87 and his WHIP down to 1.12; a far cry from where they stood at the end of June, in the best way possible.
Pittsburgh skipper Don Kelly also noted after Tuesday’s start that he’s even noticed Jones’ velocity continuing to hold deeper into games, which is an encouraging number in itself, never mind any other stats associated with that sustained velocity.
Jones’ strong outing on Tuesday evening is also on par with his stats during the final month of the regular season. In his four starts in September, Jones has only given up three earned runs and 16 total base runners in 25 innings.
In a perfect world, the Pirates would have loved to see the culmination of Jones’ season end with him making a start in the postseason, but that’s no longer in the cards.
However, that doesn’t mean Pittsburgh should be disappointed with how Jones’ season came to an end. There was still a lot to like and look forward to
This time last year, Jones was in the heart of his recovery. Now, heading into the offseason, the 25-year-old can look forward to having a normal winter of work, and actually focus on making adjustments and becoming a better pitcher, instead of just wondering when he’ll actually be back on the mound.
If anything, that’s a win for Jones and the Pirates organization.
