Pirates' Jared Jones Addresses Offseason Injury Recovery
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PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Pirates right-handed starting pitcher Jared Jones is the midst of a long road to recovery after dealing with a serious injury last season.
Jones underwent surgery on the elbow of his throwing arm, which ended his season after a comeback following early issues in 2025.
Pirates fans will want to see Jones come back for 2026, as his 2024 rookie campaign showed instances of how great he could be when fully healthy.
Jones now is working back to full health and has made progress throughout this winter.
Jones Addresses Offseason Injury Rehab
The 24-year old spoke to MLB Network Radio about what he's done this offseason and how he's dealt with his comeback plan.
Jones said that everything has gone well so far and that he's enjoyed being back on the mound and throwing, which has all felt right and how it's supposed to.
“I'm feeling pretty good right now, haven't had a pretty big hiccup yet, and I'm very grateful for that. It's been pretty smooth," he said. "Just getting back into everything and starting to throw again and getting off the mound, everything feels great, and like how it's coming out the hand and getting ready to pitch again is what I'm looking forward to most here.”
His internal brace surgery took place on May 21, 2025, with Dr. Keith Meister completing the procedure in Dallas.
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.
He took his first "flat" on Dec. 9, which is when a pitcher throws from a flat mound, serving as one of the big steps before eventually returning to the elevated mound pitchers throw from in games.
Jones then did his first bullpen session on Jan. 11, which served as another important step towards him pitching from the mound in a live setting.
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 he'll do during his rehab.
“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.