Pirates right-hander Jared Jones to miss 2025 season after undergoing elbow surgery

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Jared Jones’ second season in the big leagues is over before it even began.

The Pittsburgh Pirates’ pitcher underwent surgery to repair the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow on Wednesday and will miss 10 to 12 months.

The 23-year-old Jones initially complained of elbow pain in mid-March. Jones was in the process of rehabbing the injury when he felt discomfort in the elbow last week while doing long toss (100 feet).

The decision to have surgery was made on Tuesday after Jones met with Dr. Keith Meister. The surgery revealed the extent of the damage, which will force Jones to miss the rest of the season, but leaves open the door for him to return sometime in 2026.

“Obviously, Jared means a lot to all of us, the whole team and organization,” Pirates manager Don Kelly said after a 3-1 win over Cincinnati on Wednesday. “But just know that he’s going to be working hard, and he’s going to be back next year.”

Jones made the Pirates out of spring training in 2024 and pitched well, going 6-8 with a 4.14 ERA. Pittsburgh had hoped Jones would be featured near the top of the rotation, along with reigning National League Rookie of the Year Paul Skenes and veteran Mitch Keller.

Tomczyk said surgery was one of the options presented to Jones at the time of the injury, but Jones, with the support of the club and other medical experts, opted for rehab to give him a “fighting chance” to pitch in 2025.

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“When a professional athlete is committed to a process, whether it’s surgery, committing to a new plan, they have to have it in the front of their minds that ‘this is the best decision,’ and at that point, Jared wasn’t ready for that,” Tomczyk said. “We didn’t think it was the right thing or appropriate (either).”

Jones was shut down for six weeks, then began throwing from 60 feet in late April without issue. It wasn’t until the program was extended to 100 feet that Jones felt discomfort, which Tomczyk said is a distance where the true severity of the injury might “manifest” itself.

First baseman Enmanuel Valdez will also miss the rest of the season after having surgery on his left shoulder.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB