The Pittsburgh Pirates‘ 2025 season has gone off the rails quickly, and the future is looking murky now too.
Mere hours after the Pirates slunk into sole possession of 28th place in the majors, they announced they would have to reexamine 23-year-old righty Jared Jones’ elbow while he tries to work back from a ligament strain he sustained during spring training.
Jones will be evaluated Tuesday, and it has been reported that he is likely to be recommended for Tommy John surgery. The news came on the heels of another brilliant-yet-losing effort by ace starter Paul Skenes in their 1-0 loss that sealed a sweep at the hands of the rival Phillies.
Pittsburgh (15-32) sits in last place in the National League Central with the NL’s second-worst record, ahead of the historically awful Colorado Rockies. The Pirates are only one game on top of the Chicago White Sox, who lost a major-league record 121 games in 2024.
A 1-2 Punch
The Pirates chose Jones in the second round of the 2020 MLB Draft straight out of La Mirada High School in Southern California, and he and Skenes — the top pick of the 2023 draft — were expected to lead the Pittsburgh rotation for years to come.
Despite finishing in last place, and with a losing record for the sixth straight year, the Pirates got a glimpse of that in 2024. Skenes went 11-3 and won the National League Rookie of the Year, and Jones was 5-6 with a 3.56 ERA through 16 starts before a lat injury stunted his rookie season.
Jones ultimately finished 6-8 with an unflattering 4.14 ERA. But he had shown flashes of brilliance like his five-inning, one-hit, seven-strikeout performance against the Mets in April or his seven innings of 1-hit, 10-strikeout ball against the Rockies in a 1-0 win May 4.
More Of The Same
This season has been another cold dose of reality for Pirates fans after back-to-back 76-86 seasons the organization could spin as growth.
Aside from Jones’ injury, which he tried to rehab through instead of opting for Tommy John surgery in March, manager Derek Shelton lost his job after Pittsburgh’s 12-26 start — a consequence of its awful offense.
The Pirates are last in the National League in every major offensive category, including batting average (.217), OPS (.619), runs (141), home runs (33) and total bases (499) while sitting fifth in the majors in strikeouts (414).
Journeyman infielder Isaiah Kiner-Falefa leads all offensive players in wins above replacement (0.9) and outfielder Oneil Cruz, who leads the NL in steals (16), is the only regular with an OPS (.781) above .750.
Plus, after another brilliant start to the year for Skenes, his fortunes have turned in May. The superstar starter is 0-3 with a 2.52 ERA in four starts this month, including his complete game, three-hit, one-run, nine-strikeout performance that was not good enough to beat Mick Abel in his major-league debut.
The Pirates are on pace to win 51 games, which would somehow set a new futility mark for a franchise that has been nothing but dreadful over the past decade. Despite nine losing seasons in the past 10, and only two playoff wins over the past 33 years, the Pirates have only lost 100-plus games four times since 2000 and have not piled up 110-plus losses since their 42-112 season in 1952.
At least PNC Park is beautiful.
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