Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander Jared Jones underwent surgery on his right elbow and will miss the remainder of the season, costing the starting rotation one of its top young pitchers.
Pirates senior director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk confirmed that, “after a lot of contemplation” and discussions with experts in and outside the industry, Jones elected to have surgery Wednesday to the right forearm/elbow complex.
Tomczyk declined to specify the type of surgery performed by Dr. Keith Meister, an orthopedic surgeon based in Arlington, Texas. It’s possible that Jones could opt for an alternative to Tommy John surgery.
“What’s most important is that Jared made the decision to proceed with the surgery,” Tomczyk said. “What we do know about Jared and how he’s approached his current rehab and what we do know of him as a human being, that he’s going to dominate this rehab.
“And, most importantly, Jared feels terrible. He feels terrible because he’s not able to compete with his teammates the rest of the season. We as an organization are going to support him like we have with all our other professional athletes that are undergoing other types of procedures to the body.”
Jones, 23, was 6-8 with a 4.14 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and 132 strikeouts against 39 walks in 121 2/3 innings over 22 starts last season for the Pirates. He was shut down from throwing in spring training after missing a scheduled start in Grapefruit League play with an ulnar collateral ligament sprain in his right elbow.
Because it was diagnosed a sprain to the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow, Jones was attempting to avoid surgery. Tomczyk said Jones expressed concern when he was throwing out to 100 feet and the elbow “just didn’t feel good.” That led to the consultation Tuesday with Dr. Meister, who recommended surgery.
“In early March, a whole gamut of options were expressed with Jared and his camp and at that time, the second-most critical component to this is the psychological component,” Tomczyk said. “When a professional athlete is committed to a process, whether it’s surgery, committing to a new plan, that they have to have that in the front of their minds that ‘this is the best decision’ and at that point, Jared wasn’t ready for that. We didn’t think it was the right thing or appropriate. By we, I mean all of us, that was a necessary step. Through that process, through the last six weeks, what we learned is Jared yesterday shared with us that he can no longer continue to build back into competition without proceeding with surgery.”
The Pirates suffered another blow when infielder Enmanuel Valdez also underwent surgery Tuesday to repair the superior labrum anterior to posterior – or SLAP tear – in his left shoulder and will be out for six months. Valdez, 26, batted .209/.294/.363 with four doubles, two triples, two home runs and 12 RBIs in 31 games this season, playing 26 games at first base, six at second base and one in right field.
Right-handed reliever Colin Holderman, who was placed on the 15-day injured list Tuesday, has been diagnosed with right thumb tenosynovitis and will be examined by Dr. Don Sheridan in Arizona next week.
“That is an inflamed of the thumb that is very debilitating for anybody that has a career in gripping and throwing a baseball,” Tomczyk said.
Righty reliever Justin Lawrence also had his right elbow examined by Dr. Meister and was recommended to have a plasma-rich platelet injection and another three weeks or rest and rehabilitation before resuming a throwing program, Tomczyk said. Lawrence, 30, was 1-0 with a 0.79 ERA, 0.97 WHIP and 15 strikeouts against six walks in 11 1/3 innings over 11 appearances for the Pirates this season. He went on the injured list with right elbow inflammation on May 3.
Tomczyk said right-handed starter Johan Ovideo, recovering from Tommy John surgery and a lat strain, has thrown four side sessions “with no issues.” Righty reliever Dauri Moreta continues his rehabilitation assignment with Triple-A Indianapolis, also with no issues.
Second baseman Nick Gonzales also is on a rehabilitation assignment at Indianapolis but it was interrupted when he was hit on the right hand by a pitch in his first game. Tomczyk said tests were negative and Gonzales is swinging the bat but will be examined Thursday to determine when he’s ready to resume playing in games.
Left-handed starter Hunter Barco, who was removed from a game last week, has a mild muscle strain of the left shoulder. He has resumed throwing out to 120 feet but is considered day to day.