Jared

Jones

Jones scattered four hits and a pair of walks on the evening. The Astros put pressure on him in the opening inning by putting the first two runners on, but Jones battled back to strike out each of the next three hitters in order to quell that threat. From there, he was on cruise control over the next four innings, needing just 74 pitches (44 strikes) to complete five innings. Jones got 12 whiffs on the night — six of those on his slider — while posting a CSW of 27 percent. He’ll look to replicate this terrific effort as he does battle against the Dodgers on Wednesday.

Let’s start with the bad news. Jones served up a solo homer to Kody Clemens and a two-run blast to Trevor Larnach a couple frames later, with both long balls coming against his fastball. Not great. There were some positive takeaways for the dynamic 24-year-old as he averaged 99 mph on his fastball and topped out at 101.5 mph in his first major-league start since September 27, 2024. He finished with six strikeouts and only handed out two free passes. Jones remains a work in progress after missing last season recovering from Tommy John surgery, but his talent and strikeout upside are undeniable, which makes him worthy of a speculative roster spot in all fantasy leagues. He’ll make his next start against the Astros at Daikin Park on Thursday.

He’ll get the ball against the Twins tonight in what looks to be a decent matchup. Jones has pitched well on his rehab assignment, but he’ll be hard to trust for a win given his high pitch count during rehab was just 76. Still, he’s worth picking up in most leagues.

Carmen Mlodzinski will be demoted to the bullpen. Jones has a 2.89 ERA in five rehab starts throughout the minor leagues, striking out 24 in 18 2/3 innings in coming back from internal brace surgery on his elbow ligament. He draws a tasty assignment against a struggling Twins lineup, but isn’t a must-start in his first game back as he’s only gotten up to 76 pitches so far and there’s no guarantee he’ll go long enough to qualify for a win. Either way, he should be rostered in most leagues based on the potential he showed last season before the elbow injury.

There should be a clearer idea regarding where Jones will make his next start later this week. The 24-year-old former top pitching prospect struck out six over 4 1/3 innings in his latest rehab outing for Triple-A Indianapolis last weekend. There’s a chance he jumps into Pittsburgh’s rotation later this week, but it wouldn’t be shocking if the club decided to give him another rehab outing. He’s eligible to be activated from the 60-day injured list at any point now and should be rostered in all fantasy formats based on his strikeout upside.

Jones allowed just two hits in the contest, though he also issued three free passes. The important note is that he got stretched out to 76 pitches in this one after throwing only 52 his last time out. He’s eligible to return from the injured list this week, so it’s possible the Pirates decide to bring him back or his next start rather than having him make one final minor league rehab start. Fantasy managers who have been anxiously awaiting Jones’ return may finally start to see returns this week.

Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said that Jones would make “at least one” more start, but he is eligible to come off the injured list on May 25th. He threw only 52 pitches in his last outing, so the team would likely try to push him closer to 65 on Saturday, and then he could return with a pitch count around 75 pitches. However, it doesn’t seem like the Pirates feel they have to rush him back. His return could depend on how he pitches on Saturday and how other Pirates starters, like Carmen Mlodzinski, look over the weekend. Regardless, we’re only one or two weeks away from Jones returning, so now is the time to stash him in fantasy leagues.

Jones threw 36 of 52 pitches for strikes and scattered three baserunners over four highly impressive frames in his third rehab start. There isn’t publicly available Statcast data from this latest outing, but he’s been consistently sitting in the upper-90’s with his fastball since returning from last year’s elbow procedure. The hard-throwing 24-year-old figures to be ready to return to Pittsburgh’s rotation by the end of May or early June. He should be rostered in all fantasy formats based on his immense strikeout potential alone.

Jones is set to make another rehab start on Tuesday for Double-A Altoona, which will be his third rehab start. Cherington acknowledged that Jones will “probably toggle back and forth between Double-A and Triple-A as we get deeper into the rehab assignment,” which means he could start next week in Triple-A and then be activated when he’s eligible on May 26th. We’ll see how he pitches on Tuesday to get a better idea of how close he is.

Jones showcased his complete five-pitch repertoire, while averaging 98.8 mph and topping out at 100.1 mph on his fastball, during his second rehab outing. He struck out two and only issued one walk while throwing 54 pitches (35 strikes). The 24-year-old former top prospect is working his way back from last year’s internal brace procedure on his right elbow and figures to make his season debut before the end of May.