Pirates' Jared Jones Faces Long Recovery After Elbow Surgery

So, it looks like Jared Jones' second season in the big leagues is done before it even kicked off. The Pittsburgh Pirates' right-handed pitcher went under the knife for elbow surgery on Wednesday, and he’s officially out for the 2025 season.

This 23-year-old talent first started feeling elbow pain back in mid-March. He was working on rehabbing the injury when, just last week, he felt some discomfort while doing long toss at 100 feet. Not exactly what you want to hear when you’re trying to get back in the game, right?

After a chat with Dr. Keith Meister, the decision to go for surgery was made on Tuesday. The full extent of the damage wasn’t clear at first, according to Todd Tomczyk, the Pirates' director of sports medicine. While he didn’t give a specific timeline for Jones’ return, he did confirm that the pitcher will be out for the rest of this season.

Jones had a decent run in 2024, making the Pirates roster out of spring training and finishing with a 6-8 record and a 4.14 ERA. The team was counting on him to be a key player in the rotation, alongside last year’s National League Rookie of the Year, Paul Skenes, and veteran Mitch Keller.

Tomczyk mentioned that surgery was one of the options presented to Jones when the injury first popped up. But, with the backing of the team and other medical pros, Jones decided to go the rehab route, hoping for a shot at pitching in 2025.

After being shut down for six weeks, he started throwing from 60 feet in late April without any issues. But, of course, when he pushed it to 100 feet, that’s when the discomfort returned.

If it turns out he needs a full elbow reconstruction, we could be looking at a recovery time of at least 12 months, which could even put 2026 in jeopardy. And it’s not just Jones; first baseman Enmanuel Valdez is also out for the season after having surgery on his left shoulder. It’s a tough break for the Pirates this year.