Yasmani Grandal's mentorship helps fuel success for Pirates rookie pitcher Jared Jones

Before he was called up to the big leagues, Pittsburgh Pirates rookie pitcher Paul Skenes worked with catcher Yasmani Grandal just one time at Triple-A Indianapolis but came away impressed by the 35-year-old veteran.

“He’s an encyclopedia of how to get guys out,” Skenes said of Grandal upon arriving in Pittsburgh.

Grandal, who made his 2024 debut with the Pirates on May 4 after recovering from left foot plantar fasciitis, caught Skenes last Friday in the 21-year-old’s highly anticipated MLB debut.

That relationship will be one to keep a tab on moving forward.

Grandal’s relationship with rookie Jared Jones is already blossoming through three games as battery mates, most recently in Thursday’s 5-4 win over the Chicago Cubs.

Jones is 1-0 with a 2.37 ERA, 21 strikeouts and two walks over 19 innings with Grandal.

After his victorious outing Thursday at Wrigley Field, Jones (3-4, 2.89 ERA) has produced three straight quality starts, all with Grandal behind the plate.

Grandal has been particularly impactful with Jones between innings, giving the 22-year-old input and working through the game plan.

“I think when you have a veteran catcher, just the conviction of, ‘Hey, this is what you need to do,’ and the one thing that we’ve learned about Jared is, if you give him direction, he’s going to go with it,” manager Derek Shelton said on the SportsNet Pittsburgh postgame show Thursday.

That was on full display against Chicago, as Grandal and Jones had a productive conversation before the sixth inning, which would prove to be Jones’ last.

The topic at that moment was Jones’ slider, which he threw for 45 of his 91 pitches, adding in his four-seam fastball 41 times on the night.

The fastball-slider combo has been Jones’ specialty this year.

Jared Jones, 94mph Fastball and 88mph Slider, Individual Pitches + Overlay pic.twitter.com/lDPgK392SA

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 17, 2024

After five solid innings Thursday, a conversation with Grandal helped Jones put together a 10-pitch sixth inning.

“When we locate it exactly where we want it, obviously I feel like any pitch is effective, but his slider, when it’s going, it bottles up and kind of looks like a fastball,” Grandal said. “It’s pretty hard to hit. And when it stays up, it kind of acts like a cutter. … They’ve got to respect his fastball. He’s got a great fastball, so the fact that he does makes that slider slightly better.”

That’s not to say Jones was perfect Thursday or in any of his outings this year.

Facing the Cubs for the second straight game, Jones allowed three earned runs on seven hits.

But he struck out seven, walked none and did not allow a single three-ball count in 25 Chicago at-bats.

“Just pounding the strike zone has been the key for me this year,” Jones said. “Keep getting after it the way I have been, it’s a good key for success. … I was super pumped to keep us in it and get us in line for the win.”

Chicago dealt Jones some damage and put the barrel on the ball, but he threw 66 of his 91 pitches for strikes and kept the Cubs offense in check.

“We knew (the Cubs) make a lot of contact, but I was thinking about it and I didn’t feel like I had to frame too many balls today,” Grandal said. “Seemed like (the Cubs) were swinging at everything. There’s teams that are going to do that, especially off of him, so we’ve got to go through it, minimize damage and maximize location and stuff as much as we can.”