Pirates Pitching Depth Already Being Tested

3-19-25 – By Gary Morgan – @garymo2007 on X

Derek Shelton made news today when he announced to the gaggle of reporters “He’s (Jared Jones) not going to make his next start in Spring Training. That’s for sure, I think with that being said, we’re going to have to look at what happens going into the season.”

To add to that, Tom Tomczyk said, “When any pitcher comes to the medical staff with a concern of not recovering well, we want to be thorough, we want to be comprehensive. I don’t want to be an alarmist at this point in time. I want to emphasize that we are still learning as much as we possibly can as we’ve done over the years, as you’ve seen.

Now, that’s the official poop.

Jared Jones is done pitching this Spring. Jared Jones has had one imaging done, and will have/is having another done along with a second opinion.

That’s all publicly known, and reported.

Now, I’ve heard from two sources, the first scan does not indicate UCL damage (the target of Tommy John procedure). This doesn’t mean the second opinion would concur, it just means this second look is likely not to confirm all our worst suspicions but more to ensure it can be ruled out and sure up any diagnosis to properly lay out a rehab timetable.

Either way, Jared Jones is likely to miss significant time. Hence, the title of this piece.

The calls for Ben Cherington to sell from his expansive list of pitching prospects in an effort to bring in bats this offseason has been loud. Paul Skenes and Jared Jones alone are a big reason for the increased urgency to surround the pitching with more offense, which makes total sense to 99% of everyone, and yet, we were just hand delivered a big reason why the Pirates, and indeed most team executives don’t see it that way.

Add this to the Bailey Falter slow start and soreness and you have a recipe for suddenly not having youngsters waiting in the wings, but forced into action.

All of the sudden it’s not so much how will Thomas Harrington or Bubba Chandler break through, and more, I really hope they’re ready.

I can honestly tell you I think the Horwitz trade for Luis Ortiz and two other young pitchers will turn out fine for both sides. I can honestly say I think the Quinn Priester for Nick Yorke deal will turn out well for both sides.

I can also honestly say this position of seemingly inexhaustible depth is less so today than it was when it became a narrative and hold onto your hat, the GM might actually have outsmarted us by not rashly jumping on a deal to thin the herd even more.

Think about it, we’re one worrisome ache away from seeing this rotation start out with two soft tossing lefty veterans, a stud 2nd year ace and a veteran middle rotation righty with nothing but a bucket full of talented rookies to back it.

Doesn’t mean it can’t succeed. Doesn’t even mean it should be seen as unlikely they do just fine. But it sure as hell should make them less comfortable to pretend they have the kind of riches here to just move them for a potential 3 WAR upgrade in the field.

All of this points back to the exact reason spending money in free agency should have been the preferable path for this club. Filling the roster in areas of need should never have felt like it had to come from this depth as much as it did, unfortunately as a Pirates fan, it felt like the only way we’d see it.

Now as we sit a week before opening day, it appears they’ve instead chosen the “none” option.

Let’s not pronounce Jared Jones out for the year before we know it to be true. That said, let’s use this situation to remind ourselves just how fragile even the deepest of depths is in MLB.

You know, before next offseason when we once again tell the team exactly how to handle the completely obvious ways to fix this team. Insert sarcasm font.

More to come, obviously, as this process plays out.