Pirates put the right hand Jared Jones on the 15-day injured list Thursday, and manager Derek Shelton provided Andrew Destin of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and other reporters with some details about the latest type to shelve a star for the foreseeable future. Jones suffered a Grade 2 concussion and will not be able to throw for the next two weeks, so the team may allow him to rest and recover before evaluating his progress. If all goes well and Jones is able to resume throwing by then, Jones could be on track to return perhaps as early as August, based on the past seasons of other pitchers who have dealt with similar injuries.
It wouldn't be surprising to see Jones get more time to recover, both as a precaution given his importance to the Pirates' future, and because the team was already taking steps to manage the workload of both Jones and Paul Skenes in their collaboration. Only two of Jones' 16 starters have started on four days' rest, as the Bucs have used six players most of the season. Jones has thrown a career-high 126 1/3 innings combined between Double-A and Triple-A ball in 2023, and has reached 91 innings in the big leagues this year.
Jones' July 3 debut came after an 11-day layoff, as he skipped a rotation to keep him fresh. Shelton didn't think the layoff played a role in Jones' injury, as the Pirates still wanted Jones to participate in a live bullpen session (“We've increased his strength a lot, making sure he throws“) during his 11 days between starts, and instead pitched hard baseball.
While it's good news that Jones' injury isn't serious, missing him for even a month hurts Pittsburgh's postseason hopes. The Pirates are 42-45 entering today's game but are still four games out of the wild card, so there's still time for the team to explode — or, if things go south before July 30, explore a trade deal. deadline.
David BednarHis condition is a key factor in how the Pirates' July may play out, and he is nearing his recovery from injury and taking live batting practice today. According to Alex Stumpf of MLB.com (X link), Bednar faced five batters during 21 pitches, Bednar using his entire arsenal. A left-handed strain sent Bednar to the 15-day IL on June 20, and although he has missed more than 15 days, today's pitching session is a good sign that he may not be too far away from a minor league rehab assignment. or even direct activation. The closer has 16 saves and a deceptive 5.17 ERA over 31 1/3 innings this season, as Bednar has been sidelined following a rough April.
Speaking of bullpen injuries, Pittsburgh hit a right-hander Ryder Ryan up from Triple-A today behind the righty Daulton Jeffries was placed on IL for 15 days. Jefferies is dealing with discomfort in his right elbow, and the injury occurred less than two months after the Pirates said Jefferies was released by the Giants.
Jefferies has a 9.82 ERA split between 10 innings with Pittsburgh (6.30 ERA) and 4 2/3 frames with San Francisco (17.36 ERA), and both clubs have optioned him back and forth to Triple-A multiple times. . This marked Jefferies' return to the big leagues after missing all of 2023 to recover from both thoracic outlet syndrome surgery and Tommy John surgery within six months of 2022. Considering Jeffery also had another TJ procedure earlier in his career, it's not a good sign that he's dealing with another painful elbow injury.
Source link
