Pirates' Jared Jones Continues Progression in Injury Recovery
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PITTSBURGH — Jared Jones didn't pitch for the Pirates in 2025 and fans are eagerly awaiting his return next season.
Jones underwent surgery on his right elbow, his throwing arm, which kept him from pitching all of last year, but he is making his way back to full strength.
He most recently threw his first bullpen this past week, which Jones posted of himself completing on his Instagram. Jones also reached 91 mph, according to the radar gun in the video.
This is another important step for Jones, who will look to serve as an important part of the Pirates' rotation as soon as he can.
Jones' Injury Issues in 2025
The 2025 season should've served as a great sophomore campaign for Jones, but he never saw the mound, a disappointment to Pirates fans.
Jones originally felt pain in his arm in Spring Training and then started throwing again after six weeks off, before suffering a setback, which revealed a ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) sprain.
He underwent internal brace surgery, ending his season in May and putting him on a long road of recovery.
The internal brace surgery that Jones underwent isn't as invasive as Tommy John surgery, which would've kept Jones out the rest of 2026 as well, but still requires working on repairing the ligaments back to the bone, allowing it to heal, then augmenting it, making it stronger.
Jones received clearance from Dr. Keith Meister, who completed his surgery on May 21, to start throwing again in September, which was the first time he had done so since the operation.
The bullpen session also comes a month after he threw his first "flat," which Jones posted on his Instagram story on Dec. 9.
A "flat" is officially when a pitcher throws from a flat mound, which serves as one of the big steps before eventually returning to the elevated mound pitchers throw from in games.
He is on schedule for a return after 10-12 months of recovery, which puts him on track for March through May.
Pirates senior director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk said back in September that they're expecting Jones to still come back around the original timeline and what his rehab plan is.
“Build up in distance," Tomczyk said on Jones' recovery plan. "So you start flat ground at 60 feet and go to 120 to 135 feet. Get off the mound, get off the slope, there’s attrition there, there’s a build up, there’s a gradual build up in strength. Once we get him strong enough, comfortable enough off the mound, he’ll transition to full mound live sessions and live BPs and sim games, but as we talked before, early indications he’s on track for the original projection of return to game-like activities in 10-to-12 months.
2024 Campaign Gives Pirates Hope for Jones in 2026
Jones had an excellent Spring Training with the Pirates in 2024, which saw him make the Opening Day roster.
He ended his first full season in Pittsburgh with a 6-8 record, 22 starts, 4.14 ERA in 121.2 innings pitched, 39 walks to 132 strikeouts and a 1.19 WHIP.
Jones posted a sub-3.00 ERA in his first nine starts and had a 3.56 ERA through early July, but a right lat strain kept him out for almost two months before returning to the Pirates in late August.
He struggled afterwards, with a 5.87 ERA in his final six starts and 30.2 innings pitched, allowing at least two earned runs in each start.
Jones will come back to a Pirates starting rotation that has some of the best young talent in baseball and National League Cy Young Award winner Paul Skenes.
Rookies in Braxton Ashcraft, Hunter Barco and Bubba Chandler made their debuts last season and will fight for a spot in the rotation alongside Jones.
Jones may start out of the bullpen when he returns, which the Pirates did with the rookies last season, but regardless, he'll have a great supporting cast, with Skenes and veteran starting pitcherMitch Keller.
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.