Jared Jones’ road to recovery may be approaching a formal conclusion.
The injured 24-year-old right-hander made his fifth rehab start Saturday, pitching 4 1/3 innings for Triple-A Indianapolis, and on Sunday, general manager Ben Cherington hinted at what the next steps for Jones will be.
“He’s really come through these outings really well,” Cherington said on 93.7 FM. “The check-in after yesterday’s outing was really positive. He feels good. He woke up (Sunday) feeling good, so the recovery’s going well. Yesterday’s outing was on five day’s rest and the one before that was on four. He’s now gone through that cycle where he’s experienced all of it.
“He will have a bullpen (session) scheduled for Tuesday. I think we’d just like to get with him in person, see that and cross that last thing on the list. Then we’ll make a determination. I think he’s put himself in consideration for activation (from the injured list) at this point.”
Per Cherington, Jones’ bullpen will be conducted in Pittsburgh, as the Pirates return home Monday for seven straight games at PNC Park.
Jones, who is working his way back from InternalBrace surgery (an alternative to a Tommy John procedure, requiring less recovery time) on his throwing elbow, is officially eligible to be activated from the 60-day injured list Tuesday.
Whenever he does return to action, it’ll mark his first MLB contest since Sept. 27, 2024.
Jones went 6-8 with a 4.14 ERA over 22 starts as a rookie in 2024 before missing the entirety of the 2025 campaign due to injury.
Over five starts made on his current rehab assignment (one with Low-A Bradenton, two at Double-A Altoona and two with the Indians), Jones has pitched 18 2/3 innings, going 0-1 with a 2.89 ERA.
He’s struck out 24 with six walks and has recorded a .197 opposing batting average, as well as a WHIP of 1.02.
Most recently, Saturday against the Toledo Mud Hens, Jones allowed three runs on two hits, striking out six with three walks.
When Jones re-enters the fold, Cherington and manager Don Kelly will have some decisions to make as to the Pirates’ starting rotation and how Jones fits into the equation.
“We have 13 pitchers to think about,” Cherington said. “We want to keep thinking about it as, ‘What’s the best group of 13 pitchers on the team at one time and how do we deploy them in a way that gives us the best chance to win games?’
“Jared is going to make that group of 13 stronger, bottom line. We’ll get into all those conversations, make sure we communicate with players individually, including Jared, whoever’s going to be impacted by that. We’ll come out of it, I think, early next week with more clarity.”
O’Hearn optimism
The Pirates suffered a major blow May 17 when slugging outfielder Ryan O’Hearn, one of the club’s major offseason acquisitions, headed to the 10-day injured list with a right quad muscle strain.
That deprived the Pirates of their usual cleanup batter, who was slashing .289/.368/.459 with seven home runs and 29 RBIs at the time of his injury.
A timetable for O’Hearn’s return had previously been set at three to four weeks.
Cherington is cautiously optimistic O’Hearn could be back a bit sooner.
“If there’s a player who’s going to beat a timeline forecast, it’s probably Ryan O’Hearn,” Cherington said. “But I don’t want to put the cart in front of the horse. I think we’ll get a better update when we’re back home. We do miss him.
Bart’s status
Catcher Joey Bart has a longer and more uncertain recovery timeline due to a foot infection.
Per Cherington, Bart will have a follow-up doctor’s appointment Thursday.
“It’s a different kind of injury. It’s a harder one to predict because it’s really about the skin healing. Obviously, as you’d expect, you really want to make sure that the skin heals properly. This is a long-term thing. If you make a mistake there and have a setback, then it turns into something else.”
Bart had appeared in 21 games for the Pirates at the time of his injury, hitting .259 with two home runs and six RBIs.