Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander Jared Jones has undergone elbow surgery and will miss the remainder of the 2025 season, the club announced on Wednesday. The surgery is to repair his ulnar collateral ligament, or the ligament associated with Tommy John surgery. He’s expected to miss 10 to 12 months, suggesting he may not be ready to return to the Pirates rotation until after Opening Day 2026.
“Late last week when he started throwing 100 feet, the arm didn’t feel good … that’s when we made the decision,” the club’s senior director of sport medicine Todd Tomczyk told reporters on Wednesday.
Jones, who did not pitch this season, experienced his arm trouble back in spring. The Pirates expressed optimism in March that Jones would avoid surgery. At the time, the diagnosis was a strained UCL that left the ligament in stable condition. Jones was subsequently prescribed a treatment plan that had him not throw for six weeks. Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear that Jones’ elbow was able to heal to the extent that the doctors wanted it to, leaving them with no alternative.
Jones, 23, was one of last season’s standout rookie pitchers. In 22 starts, he amassed a 4.14 ERA (101 ERA+) and a 3.38 strikeout-to-walk ratio. His contributions were estimated to be worth 1.7 Wins Above Replacement, per the calculations housed at Baseball Reference.
The Pirates are off to a terrible start to the season, posting a 16-33 record that leaves them in last place in the National League Central. Pittsburgh recently fired manager Derek Shelton, installing former big-league utility player Don Kelly in his place as interim skipper.
The Pirates will conclude a three-game series at home against the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday afternoon.
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