Jared Jones to start Friday for Pirates in first big league appearance since 2024

What happened

Jared Jones is coming back. Pirates manager Don Kelly told reporters, including Jason Mackey of MLB.com, that the right-hander will start Friday's home game against the Minnesota Twins — his first big league appearance since the 2024 season. Per the report, Jones is being activated from the 60-day injured list and added to both the 40-man and active rosters ahead of that start. To make room in the rotation, Carmen Mlodzinski will move to the bullpen.

The roster mechanics here are worth a brief note. The 60-day IL removes a player from the 40-man count entirely, so returning from it requires two simultaneous moves: the club must restore Jones to the 40-man roster and then place him on the active 26-man roster. Both steps, per the report, are happening in advance of Friday.

Why it matters

Jones missed essentially all of the 2025 season. He experienced elbow discomfort during spring training that year and, per MLB Trade Rumors, did not initially require surgery — but ultimately went under the knife on May 21st for an internal brace procedure. The Pirates announced a return timeline of 10 to 12 months at that point, and Jones is now rejoining the club after an absence described by MLB Trade Rumors as just a bit longer than that initial window. That framing is worth holding onto: this is a return that arrived roughly on schedule, which in the world of elbow procedures is its own kind of good news, even if the desk is not in the business of declaring victories before a pitch is thrown.

The rotation context matters too. Pittsburgh's Friday probable is listed as Jones against Taj Bradley of the Twins, with Paul Skenes taking Thursday's game against the Cubs and Mitch Keller lined up for Saturday. Jones slotting in between two of the club's established starters is a reasonable re-entry point — a home game, a defined role, and a clear sense of where he fits in the order of things.

Mlodzinski's move to the bullpen is the other side of this transaction. The report does not characterize it as permanent or explain the longer-term rotation picture, so the desk will leave it where the source left it: Mlodzinski is moving to the bullpen, and Jones is taking a rotation spot, at least for Friday.

The numbers

Before the elbow cost him the better part of two seasons, Jones had put together what MLB Trade Rumors called an exciting debut in 2024. He made 22 starts that year and logged 121 2/3 innings. MLB Trade Rumors notes that Paul Skenes drew most of the attention in Pittsburgh's 2024 rotation — reasonably enough, given how that debut went — but that Jones was also putting up good numbers as a rookie, if not to the same degree.

Those 121 2/3 innings across 22 starts represent a meaningful workload for a first-year pitcher, and they are the last sustained sample of Jones at the big league level. Whatever Friday looks like, it will be the first data point added to that line in a long time.

Where the club stands

The Pirates carry an 82-80 record, good for third place in the NL Central, 21 games back in the division. Pittsburgh has been eliminated from both the division race and the Wild Card race, and sits fifth in Wild Card positioning at 6.0 relative to the cut line. They enter this stretch on a one-game winning streak.

That standing shapes what Jones's return means in the immediate term. This is not a pennant chase situation where a healthy starter changes the calculus of October. It is, instead, a chance for a pitcher to log innings, shake off rust, and remind the organization — and himself — what he looks like when healthy. The Pirates have a home series against the Twins this weekend, with Jones on Friday and Keller on Saturday, and Skenes handling Thursday's Cubs game before the Twins arrive.

For a club playing out the string in the standings, getting Jones back on a mound in a real game is the kind of development that points toward next year rather than this one. That is not a criticism; it is just the honest shape of an 82-80 season with a 21-game deficit in the division.

What we don't know yet

The report does not specify a pitch count or innings limit for Friday, which would be the natural next question for a pitcher returning from an internal brace procedure after more than a year away. Rehab assignments can run up to 30 days for pitchers under general league rules, and the report does not detail what Jones's buildup looked like or how many innings he has logged in preparation — so the desk cannot characterize his readiness beyond what Don Kelly told reporters: he is starting Friday.

It is also not clear from the report whether Mlodzinski's bullpen assignment is a short-term accommodation or a longer-term rotation decision. If Jones stays healthy and pitches well, the rotation picture will need to be sorted out, but that is a question for another day and another source.

The report does not address whether any corresponding 40-man move was required to clear space for Jones's addition, which is worth watching for in the club's transaction log.

What to watch

The obvious thing to watch is Friday at PNC Park, where Jones faces Taj Bradley and the Twins in what will be his first competitive start since 2024. How deep he goes, how his stuff looks, and whether the Pirates manage his workload carefully will all be worth tracking — not because the game has playoff implications, but because Jones's health and development are among the more meaningful storylines left on Pittsburgh's schedule.

Mlodzinski's role in the bullpen is the secondary thread. The report establishes the move without elaborating on it, so how he is used over the coming days will clarify whether this is a temporary shuffle or something more structural.

And for the longer view: Jones returning healthy, even into a lost season, is the kind of thing that tends to matter a great deal when rosters are being constructed the following winter. The Pirates now have a live look at what they have. That is worth something, even at 21 games back.