Jared Jones: Everything you need to know

Jones (elbow) struck out five over three perfect innings in his first rehab start with Single-A Bradenton on Wednesday. Jones overwhelmed the A-ball hitters, regularly reaching 100 mph and hitting 101.1 mph on his final pitch of the first inning, per Colin Beazley of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The right-hander required only 41 pitches as he cruised through his three frames. It's a very encouraging first rehab outing for Jones, who is coming back from internal brace surgery that he had last May. Jones is on the 60-day injured list and thus not eligible for activation until late May, so he will continue to deliberately build up stamina before rejoining the Pirates' rotation in a few weeks.

Pirates GM Ben Cherington said that Jones (elbow) will begin a rehab assignment Wednesday with Single-A Bradenton, Jason Mackey of MLB.com reports. The 24-year-old has been throwing to live batters for a while and has now been cleared to pitch in games for the first time since undergoing an internal brace procedure to repair the UCL in his right elbow last May. Jones' rehab assignment will be a lengthy one, but he won't be eligible to be reinstated from the 60-day injured list until late May anyway, so there's no rush for him to build up his workload.

Jones (elbow) threw a live batting practice Wednesday, MLB.com reports. Pitching coach Bill Murphy reported that Jones looked "amazing," though the team didn't release specific details about the session. Jones is expected to throw a few more live bullpen sessions before beginning a rehab assignment, and he continues to line up for a return in late May.