Pirates Skipping Jared Jones’ Final Spring Training Start Due to Right Elbow Discomfort
Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander Jared Jones has likely thrown his final pitch of the spring.
The 23-year-old won’t make another start for the Pirates in spring training after experiencing right elbow discomfort during a recent bullpen session last Sunday, manager Derek Shelton announced Wednesday. There’s no immediate timeline for his return as the team continues to gather additional details regarding his injury.
Jones, previously scheduled to start Tuesday, has already been sent for imaging, and the team isl awaiting a second opinion before officially diagnosing his ailment, according to senior director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk.
“This is normal standard protocol,” Tomczyk told reporters Wednesday, including MLB.com’s Alex Stumpf. “When any pitcher comes to the medical staff with a concern of not recovering well, we want to be thorough, we want to be comprehensive. I don’t want to be an alarmist at this point in time. I want to emphasize that we are still learning as much as we possibly can as we’ve done over the years, as you’ve seen. It’s a collaborative approach with [the] player, with second opinions, with staff physicians.”
“We’re still learning. If that’s the take-home message that I do share, it’s that we are still learning.”
Everyone’s holding their breath around how long Jones will be sidelined, especially after he missed close to two months due to a right lat strain last season. That paused his impressive rookie campaign, where he emerged as a franchise pillar for the Pirates.
“He’s not going to make his next start in Spring Training. That’s for sure,” Shelton said. “I think with that being said, we’re going to have to look at what happens going into the season.”
Jones had already made four starts this spring, allowing three runs (all earned) on eight hits, six walks and a hit-by-batter while striking out 17 over 12 innings. He was previously slotted in behind Paul Skenes and Mitch Keller within the Pirates’ rotation.
But now that he’ll almost certainly miss the start of the season, Pittsburgh’s staff – which is already without Johan Oviedo (right lat strain) – has become very fluid. Andrew Heaney and Bailey Falter will serve as depth as the club’s Nos. 3 and 4 starters. But the final rotation spot remains up for grabs.
Carmen Mlodzinski appears to be among the leading candidates in that race after making four big-league starts in 2024. However, top pitching prospects Bubba Chandler and Thomas Harrington have also impressed in camp and will likely receive consideration leading up to final roster decisions.
Replacing Jones’ swing-and-miss production and electric arsenal will be a difficult challenge, though. As one of the sport’s hardest throwers, the young righty – whose average fastball velocity (97.3 mph) ranked in the 93rd percentile of the majors – struck out over a quarter of his batters faced across 22 starts a season ago.
The 2020 second-round selection also pitched to a 4.14 ERA and 4.00 FIP in 121.2 innings, accounting for 1.8 fWAR as a rookie.
-Thomas Hall
Twitter: @Hall_Thomas_
Photo: daveynin. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.