Pittsburgh Pirates rookie pitcher Jared Jones was placed on the 15-day injured list with a right lat strain on Thursday. However, before Friday’s series opener versus the New York Mets, manager Derek Shelton told reporters that the right-hander will likely be out for longer than two weeks.
Shelton said Jones probably won’t throw again for two weeks and after that, the Pirates will re-evaluate the pitcher before deciding how to move forward.
A 15-day IL stint would take Jones into the All-Star break, but ramping back up after a rest means that he likely won’t return until the end of July or beginning of August.
Jones was pulled from his start on Wednesday after five innings, which many assumed was done for load management reasons. The Pirates have monitored the rookie’s pitch and inning counts, skipping Jones’ last turn in the rotation (scheduled for June 28) to give him more rest. He threw live …