{"id":79139,"date":"2024-07-05T23:40:01","date_gmt":"2024-07-06T03:40:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=79139"},"modified":"2024-07-05T23:39:13","modified_gmt":"2024-07-06T03:39:13","slug":"pirates-jones-injury-out-long","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/07\/05\/pirates-jones-injury-out-long\/","title":{"rendered":"Pirates Pitcher Will Be Out Longer Than Thought"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>When Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=jonesja09,jones-013jar&amp;search=Jared+Jones&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-07-05_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jared Jones<\/a> went on the 15-day <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/07\/04\/jared-jones-injured-list\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">injured list<\/a>, it was thought he wouldn\u2019t be out long. After seeing team doctors, it was determined he wouldn\u2019t even be able to begin throwing for 15 days.<\/p>\n<h2>Pirates Pitcher Jared Jones Will Be Out Longer Than Thought<\/h2>\n<p>If the gutsy rookie is out for a long time, it will be a huge blow for the Pirates. The 22-year-old right-hander is 5-6 with a 3.56 ERA that belies how <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/04\/24\/pirates-rookie-pitcher-jared-jones\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">dominant<\/a> he\u2019s been at times. He has a 1.110 WHIP, 9.7 strikeouts per nine innings, and a 3.63 strikeout-to-walk ratio. If there\u2019s any bright side to this, it\u2019s the fact that Jones\u2019s stay on the IL will overlap with the All-Star break.<br \/>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Smgg_DNecRQ?si=JCMv02YGXpSxXcuF\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>With Jones out long, let\u2019s look at some candidates to take his spot in the Pirates rotation.<\/p>\n<h3>Rehabbing Pitchers<\/h3>\n<p>Injured pitchers <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/g\/gonzama02.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-07-05_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Marco Gonzales<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/p\/priesqu01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-07-05_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Quinn Priester<\/a> are currently on rehab assignments at Triple-A Indianapolis. In three starts for the Bucs, Gonzales, acquired in an <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2023\/12\/05\/marco-gonzales-braves-pirates-trade\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">offseason trade<\/a>, pitched well despite having no decisions. In three starts covering 17 innings, the soft tosser has pitched to a 2.65 ERA and 1.176 WHIP. Gonzales went on the injured list on April 14 with a recurrence of the left forearm strain that sidelined him for much of 2023. His rehab assignment began on Monday evening in Louisville. Gonzales went three innings, surrendering two runs (one earned) on three hits. He struck out three and walked one. More importantly, he emerged healthy from his 51-pitch outing.<\/p>\n<p>However, after such a long layoff, Gonzales will require a long rehab assignment before rejoining the Pirates. A reasonable target might be late July or early August after he\u2019s built up his pitch count. Nobody will block Gonzales from taking a spot in the Pirates rotation if Jones is still out that long.<\/p>\n<p>Priester went on the IL on June 6 with a right lat muscle injury. Priester, the 2019 first-round pick in the June Amateur Draft, started six games for the Pirates this season. He is 0-5 with a 4.83 ERA, 1.547 WHIP, and 5.72 FIP. He\u2019s lasted just 31 2\/3 innings in those starts. Nevertheless, the 23-year-old has fared much better at Indianapolis. Priester is 3-1 in seven starts with a 3.21 ERA and 1.069 WHIP. This includes Tuesday\u2019s rehab start, also at Louisville, where he pitched five innings and gave up just one run on three hits while striking out six. He threw 70 pitches and seems to be building himself up to take a major league mound.<\/p>\n<h3>Another No. 1 Pick<\/h3>\n<p>After being acquired in a <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/05\/10\/giants-trade-pitcher-jefferies-pirates\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">trade<\/a> with the San Francisco Giants on May 10, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/j\/jeffeda01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-07-05_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Daulton Jefferies<\/a> was <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/06\/17\/pirates-call-up-daulton-jefferies\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">called up<\/a> to Pittsburgh on June 17. The 2016 No. 1 pick of the Oakland Athletics has made three relief appearances with the Pirates. In 10 innings, his ERA is 6.30. However, that\u2019s a bit misleading because he\u2019s been left on the mound to eat innings in lost causes. Even so, his work at Indianapolis was far from stellar. In five starts in Indy, he had a 6.10 ERA and 1.742 WHIP. In any event, manager <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/managers\/sheltde99.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Derek Shelton<\/a> has had ample opportunity to give Jefferies some starts whenever starters went down. He opted for bullpen games instead.<\/p>\n<h3>The Logical Candidate<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=ortizlu03,ortizlu02,ortizlu01&amp;search=Luis+Ortiz&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-07-05_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Luis Ortiz<\/a> has quietly emerged as an important part of the Pirates pitching staff. Now that Jones will be out for a long period, the Pirates may rely on Ortiz more heavily. Ortiz got a brief look as a starter with the Pirates in 2022. However, after a mysterious drop in velocity in 2023, he broke camp with the Bucs as a reliever. He\u2019s been effective despite not regaining his velocity. He\u2019s 4-2 with a save, 3.27 ERA, 1.236 WHIP, and 3.36 FIP.<\/p>\n<p>After several effective multi-inning stints in bullpen games, Shelton turned to Oritz to make a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.post-gazette.com\/sports\/pirates\/2024\/06\/26\/luis-ortiz-cincinnati-reds-mlb-mccutchen-rowdy-tellez-bryan-reynolds\/stories\/202406250117\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">start<\/a> in Cincinnati on June 26. Ortiz gave him six solid innings, giving up just one run on four hits while striking out seven and walking nobody in a 6-1 victory. At least for now, Ortiz looks like the logical candidate to take Jones\u2019s spot.<\/p>\n<h3>The Last Word<\/h3>\n<p>It will be interesting to see who takes Jones\u2019s spot in the rotation and how his injury will affect the Pirates\u2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/06\/07\/insider-discusses-pirates-success\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">approach to the trade deadline<\/a>. With a rotation of Jones, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/k\/kellemi03.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-07-05_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mitch Keller<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/s\/skenepa01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-07-05_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Paul Skenes<\/a>, the Pirates are a dark horse contender, especially if general manager Ben Cherington picks up some good hitters. Without Jones for any length of time? Pirates fans hope it doesn\u2019t cause their favorite team to wave the white flag and begin the annual July sell-off.<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo Credits: <em>Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Jared Jones went on the 15-day injured list, it was thought he wouldn\u2019t be out long. After seeing team doctors, it was determined he wouldn\u2019t even be able to begin throwing for 15 days. Pirates Pitcher Jared Jones Will Be Out Longer Than Thought If the gutsy rookie is out for [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5010,"featured_media":79152,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26,1071],"tags":[3215,28488,3160,3718,6213,3982,2762,6371,2694],"class_list":["post-79139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pirates","category-mlb","tag-ben-cherington","tag-daulton-jefferies","tag-derek-shelton","tag-jared-jones","tag-luis-ortiz","tag-marco-gonzales","tag-mitch-keller","tag-paul-skenes","tag-quinn-priester"],"modified_by":"Evan Mazza, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79139","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5010"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79139"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79139\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79152"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}