Pirates fans received some ominous news today when John Perrotto, of Pittsburgh Baseball, now reports right-handed Jared Jones Once was “possible” Tommy John surgery. Shortly thereafter, MLB.com's Alex Stumpf expanded the report and emphasized that the status of Jones has not yet been decided. That being said, Stampf does report that Jones is expected to meet with the orthopedic surgeon (and the ranger’s master physician) with Dr. Keith Meister “Options” For the right, it was shut down after spring training due to sore elbows, which eventually turned out to be a UCL sprain.
After the diagnosis, Jones was shut down for six weeks and (as Stampf pointed out) began playing in late April. There have been few updates about Jones' status since then, but this latest update is not an encouraging update. While it's unclear whether Jones will eventually fall under the knife, surgery after trying to repair his elbow will still cost him the entire 2025 season, but it could also put his 2026 campaign in danger. It's a frustrating result for any pitcher, but especially a 23-year-old who made his major league debut last season was a solid rookie campaign, with him releasing 4.22 ERA and 4.01 FIP in 22 games.
At this point, he might try to build on this, which may take some time. Losing Jones during this time will cause a crushing for a Pirates club, a Pirates club that has struggled to reach 15-32 this season and built around the strength of young Jones (including Jones, 2024 NL Rookie of the Year). Paul Skynisand the highest prospect Bubba Chandler. and Mitch Keller and Andrew Heaney It will be one of the most terrifying on-paper rotations in the sport, but Chandler hasn't been injured all season yet, and Chandler has yet to make his major league debut.
Those are the club rotation armor dents that only further exacerbate the problems brought by severely defective bullpens and boring offenses. It's arguably already cost the Buccaneers any shot they have when they play the playoffs this year, but Jones lost most or all of Jones' losses in 2026, and could risk showing serious notes on the team next season without a noticeable shift, or financial spending this winter shows comfortable input than ownership.
Of course, meetings with surgeons are not necessarily the same as the ticket itself for the surgery itself. Gerrit Cole Last spring, the famous meeting was held with Dr. Neal Elattrache, a prominent surgeon, but only needed to fix his elbow illness in a short period of time and be able to return to the Yankees in the second half of last year, although he eventually needed surgery at last spring’s training camp. Regardless of whether Jones finally undergoes surgery at the moment, his recovery progress seems to slow down or even stop completely. This will leave Pirates without talented young people, i.e. more on the 2025 campaign.
At this point, Bailey staggers (4.02 Era) and Carmen Mlodzinski (5.67 ERA) was relied on to fill the Pirates rotation behind Skenes, Keller and Heaney. Chandler's final promotion should create additional depth, but Braxton Ashcraft and Thomas Harrington Minors who have been in the 40-man lineup remained as the spins were spinning further.
