Everything‘s not going the way the Pittsburgh Pirates expected it to happen! The reason? Well, the Pirates will likely miss one of their stars at the spring training. And this puts a big question mark on their start of the regular season as well. But why is it so?

The Pirates’ ace pitcher Jared Jones has experienced some discomfort in his elbow, right after the recent bullpen. Their manager, Derek Shelton, confirmed the news of his injury, mentioning that he would miss the final scheduled spring training too. Although there’s no official confirmation regarding the severity of his discomfort, Jones’ absence is definitely bad news for the Pirates, isn’t it?

Definitely! The 23-year-old pitcher was expected to be a part of the rotation alongside players like Paul Skenes, the 2024 NL Rookie of the Year, and also the right-hander Mitch Keller. Jared Jones even had a good 2024 campaign, as he made a 6-8 record with 9.88 K/9, 4.14 ERA, and 1.8 fWAR across the 121 2/3 innings. However, that seems out of the question now, given that he has been sidelined due to the elbow discomfort. On March 19, Pirates beat reporter, Alex Stumpf made a post on his X handle citing, “Jared Jones experienced elbow discomfort after his last bullpen, per Derek Shelton. He will miss his final scheduled spring training start.”

That’s definitely a big blow after Derek Shelton’s confirmation of Jones not making it to the final spring training. The thing that sets Jared Jones apart from others is his unique ability to use a two-pitch mix of fastballs and sliders. This poses great difficulty for the batters, keeping them off balance and making it more challenging for them to hit the ball perfectly.

That’s the reason Jones has managed to keep the hitters limited to a mere .207 batting average with a good 37.3% whiff rate—that’s highly impressive for a young pitcher like him, right? However, there’s good news for the Pittsburgh Pirates fans, as they have some more options as well.

The Pirates instill faith in other players amid Jared Jones’ injury

While the Pittsburgh Pirates hope to see Jones coming back to the mound, healthy and fit, they announced that Paul Skenes would be the opening-day starter. Skenes 2024 regular season boasted of 1.96 ERA, 23 G, 133.0 IP, 170 SO, and 0.95 WHIP. He has been showing good signs in the 2025 spring training, as he has 4 G, 14.2 IP, 19 SO, and 1.70 WHIP. But Skenes is not the only player the Pirates are relying upon; their young pitcher, Thomas Harrington, dazzled in the spring training.

Thomas Harrington posted a 3-2 win at LECOM Park, where he pitched 3.2 innings, and allowed only one hit. That’s quite impressive, isn’t it? Definitely, given that his performance also includes one walk and three strikeouts, which indicates his ability to handle pressure in different situations. In addition to his performance, Harrington also has different pitches like a fastball, sinker, cutter, slider, changeup, and curveball. And that’s surely going to help the Pirates make it big in the upcoming season while promising him an exciting future.

Do you think, Paul Skenes and Thomas Harrington can make the Pirates not feel the absence of Jared Jones? Let us know in the comment below.