Surprise, surprise. The Dodgers' arrival at PNC Park this week will deliver plenty of intrigue.
We’ll get Shohei Ohtani hitting against Paul Skenes on Tuesday, then Ohtani’s first-ever appearance as a pitcher in Pittsburgh. But don’t sleep on the other half of the pitching matchup for Wednesday.
Unlike Skenes, Jared Jones actually grew up a Dodgers fan, attending games at Dodger Stadium with his grandpa, Roger.
You've probably noticed, too: Jones can be a little intense. It’ll be fun to see how he performs against his hometown team. With Ohtani on the other side.
“He’s been one of the best pitchers in baseball this year, so it’ll be a fun matchup,” Jones said over the weekend in Atlanta.
While Ohtani has been his typical, dominant self at the plate — .374 average, 1.086 OPS and 21 RBIs over his past 28 games — his work as a pitcher this season has been absurd.
In 10 starts, Ohtani is 6-2 with a 0.74 ERA while walking 18 and striking out 67 in 61 innings. The right-hander also has a .144 batting average against, a 0.79 WHIP and hasn’t allowed more than two earned runs in a start this season.
Yeah, pretty good.
And even better of late, Ohtani going 4-0 with a 0.38 ERA, nine walks and 25 strikeouts in 24 innings.
Ohtani has never pitched at PNC Park. He was supposed start here Sept. 3, 2025, but he was scratched due to illness.
Ohtani has pitched once against the Pirates in his career: July 21, 2023. Henry Davis homered twice. Jack Suwinski and Ji Man Choi got Ohtani once, though the Angels still won the game.
Ohtani is obviously a spectacle everywhere he goes, but I might be more interested to see how Jones fares.
After some nerves in his first start back from elbow surgery on May 29, allowing five earned runs in 4 1/3 innings, Jones looked much more like himself this past Thursday in Houston.
While helping the Pirates take two of three in the series, Jones threw five shutout innings, striking out four. This also represents his second career start against the Dodgers, the other coming a little more than two years ago.
Jones pitched six shutout innings in that June 4, 2024 game, allowing three hits and three walks and striking out six.
“Take it as it is,” Jones said, trying a little to downplay the matchup. “Just another game. Try and go out there and pitch.”
“It probably means more to my grandpa than me.”
Any split allegiances in the Jones family for this one?
"I hope not," he said. "But maybe."
As for Ohtani hitting, he’s batting .293 with a .988 OPS in 18 career games against the Pirates. That includes seven doubles, three triples and four home runs to go along with 10 RBIs and 14 runs scored in 83 plate appearances.
But little of that success has come against Skenes (2 for 11, six strikeouts, one home run) or Jones (0 for 3, two strikeouts).
As a team, the Dodgers (42-24) boast MLB’s second-best record behind the Braves. Their plus-133 run different ranks first, while they also lead in ERA (3.17) and OPS (.784) and have an expected record (47-19) that’s five wins better than their actual one.
It'll be a tough challenge for Skenes, Jones, Mitch Keller and the rest of the Pirates. But it'll also be a chance for them to make up for a few lost opportunities in the Braves series.
Jason Mackey: Jason.Mackey@pirates.com and @JMackey_PGH on X.