Thundering toward the big leagues | Maryland Gazette (HometownGlenBurnie.com)

Many top prospects jump directly from Double-A to the major leagues, which should mean that Pasadena resident Jason Jones is on the verge of playing at Yankee Stadium.

Jones is the ace starting pitcher for the Trenton Thunder, the organization's Double-A affiliate in the Eastern League. The 6-foot-5, 225-pound right-hander has posted impressive statistics this season - a 10-3 record with a 2.28 earned run average.

Those numbers, along with 67 strikeouts and just 32 walks in 110.2 innings, earned Jones a berth in the Eastern League All-Star game that was played last night in New Hampshire.

"Jason has become more of a complete pitcher this season. He has a full repertoire of pitches and throws them all for strikes," Trenton pitching coach Scott Aldred said. "He is much improved over last year. I see a complete different guy in terms of overall command and mound presence."

Jones entered the All-Star break with the lowest ERA among starters in the Eastern League. He is tied for the league lead in victories and innings pitched.

"I'm just pitching with a lot of confidence right now. I have trust in all my pitches and know that I can throw any of them for strikes," Jones said.

New York selected Jones in the fourth round of the 2004 First-Year Player Draft. The Arlington Baptist and Liberty University graduate was a Florida State All-Star while with Tampa of the Advanced Class A level. He was promoted to Trenton in September and finished with 13 victories to lead all minor league pitchers in the Yankees' organization.

Jones began the 2007 campaign at Trenton and started off strong, compiling an 8-4 record with a 2.45 ERA in 14 starts. However, he fell apart down the stretch and did not win a game the rest of the way, going 0-7 with a 7.16 ERA in his last eight appearances.

In retrospect, Jones said he worried too much about organizational moves and why he wasn't being promoted instead of just pitching. Two current Yankees pitchers - Joba Chamberlain and Ian Kennedy - spent part of 2007 in Trenton and were fast-tracked to the majors ahead of Jones.

"Last year, I let the politics of the organization get to me. You see guys moving up around you and start to wonder why," Jones said. "This year, I'm not worrying about off-the-field stuff I can't control. I'm just focusing on my next start."

Jones throws the fastball between 88-92 miles per hour, average for a right-hander by Major League standards. He's always possessed a two- and four-seam fastball and has steadily developed an effective slider and curveball during his five-year minor league career. However, a big reason for this season's success is that Jones has added a split-fingered pitch to his arsenal.

Jones was initially taught the splitter by Liberty pitching coach Randy Tomlin, a former starter for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He never quite mastered the pitch and had never included it in his arsenal until now.

"I started messing with the split finger last year when (Trenton) moved me to the bullpen. I worked on it during the off-season and spring training and now it's become a great out pitch for me," Jones said. "I have a lot of confidence in that pitch. I can throw it in any count."

Aldred, the pitching coach, believes Jones has dramatically improved his situational pitching. During the late-season slump last season, Jones struggled to get out of jams.

"Jason is doing a much better job with runners on base and when he's behind in the count. He's maintaining his cool and working through the tough innings, the tough at-bats," Aldred said. "Jason is also doing a better job of putting hitters away when he's ahead in the count."

Jones tossed his lone complete game of the season on June 13 against Connecticut and was called up to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre two weeks later to replace the injured Alfredo Aceves in the rotation. He started against Buffalo and was brilliant, allowing just one hit while recording seven strikeouts in five shutout innings of work.

Apparently that wasn't enough to stay at Triple-A and Jones was sent back down to Trenton after making one spot start. He didn't get upset, tossing a two-hitter with seven strikeouts over seven shutout innings on July 3 in his first start since returning to the Thunder.

"I feel I'm ready for the big leagues. At Triple-A you see a lot of hitters who have been in the majors and I had no problem getting them out," Jones said. "As soon as you start trying to figure things out with the organization… there's just no point in that. If you keep putting up good numbers, somebody will eventually notice."

That Jones is one call away from pitching for the most storied franchise in Major League Baseball is amazing considering he was not considered a prospect coming out of Arlington Baptist. A product of the Havenwood Little League program in Pasadena, Jones did not really develop until joining the Maryland Orioles program toward the end of his high school career.

"I was a late bloomer. Most of my big-time playing experience came with the Maryland Orioles and I barely got to Liberty," Jones said. "I've just always worked my tail off and have kept improving every year."