Pirates Rookie Phenom Jared Jones Out With Right Lat Strain
Jared Jones’ sensational rookie campaign has hit an unfortunate speed bump as he’ll remain sidelined with a right lat strain through the All-Star break.
The 22-year-old righty was placed on the 15-day IL prior to Thursday’s 10th-inning, 3-2 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals. He departed after five innings and 78 pitches in his most recent start Wednesday, allowing one run on four hits and two walks while striking out five.
Outfielder Joshua Palacios arrived from Triple-A Indianapolis in a corresponding move to take Jones’ spot on the roster. The 28-year-old has hit .311/.386/.419 with five doubles, one home run and eight RBIs in 21 games with the Indians this season.
Jones and the Pirates were confident he’d only sustained a minor injury coming out of Wednesday’s outing, at least initially. But they’re opting for a cautious approach with one of the cornerstones of their starting rotation.
The club skipped his previous turn in the rotation following his seven-inning outing against the Tampa Bay Rays on June 22nd, providing him with extra rest while also managing his innings total.
“We’re still re-evaluating where he’s at,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton told reporters post-game Thursday, including MLB.com’s Alex Stumpf. “I think everyone knows what he means to us and where we’re at, so, out of precaution he’s still being evaluated. I think we’ll probably have more information in the next day or two.”
Missing at least the next two weeks should help the Pirates limit Jones’ workload the rest of the way, which will be crucial considering he maxed out at 122.2 innings in 2022 and 126.1 in ‘23. He’s already up to 91 frames across 16 starts this season.
The 2020 second-round selection has emerged as a breakout star, dominating the opposition with his electric high-90s fastball, which has averaged 97.3 mph – placing it in the 94th percentile. His arsenal also includes a wipeout slider responsible for 46 of his 98 punchouts.
Jones has struck out 26.4 percent of his batters faced and walked only 7.3 percent. He’s excelled at generating swings-and-misses, earning a 94th-percentile whiff rate of 32 percent.
Overall, the 6-foot-1 hurler owns a 3.56 ERA and 3.74 FIP with the Pirates, pitching to a 5-6 record during his first taste of the major leagues. He ranks second amongst rookies in strikeouts, trailing only New York’s Luis Gil (102).
Pittsburgh’s rotation has given birth to a pair of talented young superstars this season, with Jones and fellow rookie standout Paul Skenes creating a three-headed monster alongside Mitch Keller. That trio will hope to lead this franchise to a return to contention in the coming years.
Both Jones and Skenes entered July among the leading candidates in this year’s jam-packed NL Rookie of the Year race, which also includes Chicago’s Shota Imanaga, Los Angeles’ Yoshinobu Yamamoto (injured) and Gavin Stone, San Diego’s Jackson Merrill and Milwaukee’s Joey Ortiz (injured).
The Pirates, who are 41-45 entering Friday’s slate, are just four games back of the final NL wild-card seed but have five other teams ahead of them in the race. While they have a chance to sneak in, Jones’ IL stint may help simplify the front office’s trade deadline plans.
-Thomas Hall
Twitter: @Hall_Thomas_
Photo: Joshua Peacock. This file is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.