Hopefully it isn’t anything major, but Pirates pitcher Jared Jones will miss his next start in Spring Training.
Noah Hiles explains Pirates options if Jones goes on IL, latest on injury
Manager Derek Shelton told reporters on Wednesday that the right-handed pitcher is experiencing elbow discomfort.
There is a possibility the injury could linger early on into the season.
“We’re going to have to look at what happens going into the season,” Shelton told Post-Gazette reporter Noah Hiles and others.
Whenever there is an elbow injury with a pitcher, there is the possibility of “Tommy John” surgery, which wipes out a pitcher’s entire season and possibly longer.
Jones went 6-8 last season over 22 starts with an ERA of 4.14.
The 23-year-old rookie got off to a hot start before going onto the injured list on July 4 last season with a lat strain.
He wasn’t the same in the second half, struggling to duplicate the success he had before his injury.
Jones is a key piece of the Pirates starting pitching staff going into this season, a staff headed by phenom Paul Skenes.