The last time we saw Jared Jones, he was a 22-year-old rookie with an electric fastball flashing ace-like potential alongside fellow rookie, and future Cy Young winner, Paul Skenes. 

Skenes earned Rookie of the Year honors while Jones went 6-8 with a 4.14 ERA, 9.8 strikeouts per nine, .230 opponents’ average and 14.1 percent swinging-strike rate over 22 starts for the Pirates. 

Unfortunately, Jones suffered a UCL injury, underwent internal brace surgery (not Tommy John) and missed the 2025 season. 

On May 29, Jones rejoined Skenes, Mitch Keller, Bubba Chandler and Roto Rage favorite Braxton Ashcraft in the Pirates rotation to make his first start in 609 days. The results did not look pretty on paper, as he allowed five earned runs on seven hits (two homers) and two walks over 4 ¹/₃ innings. It could easily be chalked up to rust after a lengthy layoff.