Pirates GM Addresses Jared Jones's Role After Return From Injury
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PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Pirates right-handed pitcher Jared Jones is nearing his full comeback from season-ending surgery almost a year ago, which will bolster the team's pitching staff.
Jones was excellent for the Pirates in 2024, but missed all of 2025 dealing with an elbow injury, which required surgery and ended a promising sophomore campaign before it even started.
Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said that Jones is on track for his scheduled return of around May-June, but that he doesn't have a timeline for his first rehab assignment.
Cherington also said that he anticipates Jones coming back into the starting rotation once he gets back to full health and not someone is primarily coming out of the bullpen.
“There hasn’t been any changes to the calendar," Cherington said. "We haven’t started a date for the start of the rehab assignment, but we are tracking in the same area. He had a live yesterday, a two-up live BP that went well. Velocity is there. He threw all of his pitches, he’s feeling good. He’s getting closer to that real game activity. Then it’s just a matter of getting hitters out, the routine part of it.”
As far as the second part of your question, look, we know and he knows we are going to have to budget some innings this year. It’s not going to be 180 innings, it’s going to be less than that. We have to manage that volume for 2026. We haven’t gotten that far into how we are exactly going to do that. He’s going to be on a very structured, scheduled program. He’s someone who is really important to us as a starter long term. He’s going to know when he’s pitching. We will figure out exactly how to make that work when we get closer to the big leagues.”
How the Pirates Will Likely Approach Jones' Return
Jones is on the 60-day injured list, which means the Pirates can't officially bring him back until May 25, as it is 60 days following Opening Day.
Going through live sessions is crucial for Jones' return, as it is one of the main steps he has towards making a full return, which includes sim games and actually facing hitters on a consistent basis, which will come with his rehab assignments in the minor leagues.
Jones will eventually taking a role in the starting rotation, but the Pirates must build him back up to a workload a starter will face.
He may start out of the bullpen, as he gets used to facing major league hitting once again, but once he starts showing he can throw more innings and do so effectively, he'll be back in one of the best starting rotations in baseball, with the likes of Paul Skenes, Mitch Keller, Braxton Ashcraft and Bubba Chandler.
Pirates manager Don Kelly had both Ashcraft and Chandler work out of the bullpen before earning starting roles, which was especially important for someone like Ashcraft, who has an extensive injury history.
Overview of Jared Jones Injury/Return From Surgery
Jones underwent internal brace surgery back on May 21, 2025, with Dr. Keith Meister performing the surgery in Dallas, Texas.
He suffered an ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) sprain, which he discovered after having pain in his elbow during Spring Training and then following him trying to return to full fitness, resulting in him choosing sugery.
The internal brace surgery that Jones chose isn't as invasive as Tommy John surgery, which would've kept Jones out the rest of this season too, but still requires working on the repairing the ligaments back to the bone, allowing it to heal, then augmenting it, making it stronger.
He threw off a flat mound back on Dec. 9, known as a "flat,", took on his first bullpen session back on Jan. 11, and has continued his recovery down in Bradenton, Fla. during Spring Training and up until now.
Dominic writes for Pittsburgh Pirates On SI, Pittsburgh Panthers Pn SI and also, Pittsburgh Steelers On SI. A Pittsburgh native, Dominic grew up watching Pittsburgh Sports and wrote for The Pitt News as an undergraduate at the University of Pittsburgh, covering Pitt Athletics. He would write for Pittsburgh Sports Now after college and has years of experience covering sports across Pittsburgh.