Jones shut down from throwing for two weeks with lat strain

Pittsburgh Pirates manager Derek Shelton said imaging showed pitcher Jared Jones has a Grade 2 right lat muscle strain, an injury that will force the rookie right-hander to be temporarily shut down from throwing.

Shelton said Jones will be re-evaluated after two weeks. Jones is eligible to return from the 15-day injured list on July 19 but the shutdown likely means his absence will be extended beyond that date.

Shelton also added that Jones was not experiencing any health-related issues before Wednesday’s start against the St. Louis Cardinals, when he was removed after allowing one run on four hits and two walks with five strikeouts on 78 pitches over five innings.

And Shelton reiterated that Jones skipped a start after his June 22 outing against Tampa Bay because the Pirates wanted to monitor his workload. Jones has pitched 91 innings over 16 starts this season, and was fast approaching his career high of 126 1/3 innings in 2023.

“If it would’ve been a situation where it would have been no-throw with that, I could understand how we would lead to that,” Shelton said. “But we threw a simulated game or a live BP, so we had the intensity up for him. We talked about that while that was happening or prior to. We wanted to make sure he faced hitters. It wasn’t just a bullpen.

“I don’t think any of us think that we have pitching figured out in any stretch of the imagination — and I’m talking about that globally, not just the Pirates — but the fact that we did ramp his intensity up, we still did make sure he threw, no one can predict when guys are going to get hurt. You can throw every fourth day for a full year and not get hurt.”