Jared Jones will make the start for the Pirates on Friday, manager Don Kelly said Thursday, and Carmen Mlodzinski will be moved to the bullpen as the club adjusts its pitching staff.
Jones is returning from the 60-day injured list and will have to be added to both the 40-man roster and the active roster before taking the mound; it will be his first big league start since the 2024 season. He underwent an internal brace procedure on May 21, 2025, after experiencing elbow discomfort during spring training in 2025, and the Pirates had originally announced a return timeline of 10 to 12 months.
There are tangible reasons for optimism. In 2024 Jones made 22 starts, logging 121 2/3 innings with a 4.14 earned run average, a 26.2% strikeout rate and a 7.7% walk rate. This year, in five rehab starts, he posted a 2.89 ERA with a 32.9% strikeout rate and an 8.2% walk rate — numbers the club will point to as justification for reinstating him to the rotation.
The move matters now because the Pirates are tight in the standings: the team was 29-27 and one game back of a playoff spot at the moment of the article. With that margin, the roster choices matter immediately; Kelly’s decision to hand Jones a Friday start is as much about short-term push as it is about long-term recovery.
Kelly’s announcement also forces a roster shuffle. Jones must be added to both the 40-man roster and the active roster to take the turn, a procedural step that will take place before the team’s scheduled game on Friday. Mlodzinski, who has been filling a rotation role while Jones was out, will shift to the bullpen after making 11 appearances and throwing 55 innings this year with a 3.76 ERA.
The tension in the move is clear: Mlodzinski had been a steady presence in the rotation and his numbers this year suggest he has been effective in that role. Moving him to relief improves the team’s short-term rotation profile on paper, but it reduces starting depth that the Pirates have leaned on while managing injuries.
There is also a durability question around Jones. His spring training elbow discomfort, the internal brace operation in May 2025 and the original 10- to 12-month timetable were all part of a conservative projection; returning him to make a first big league start since 2024 now rests on his five rehab outings in 2026. Those outings produced stronger strikeout numbers than he posted in 2024, but also a slightly higher walk rate in the small sample.
For a club one game back, the calculus is straightforward: the Pirates are choosing to bank on the upside of Jones’ swing-and-miss stuff and his recent rehab performance rather than leave him on the sideline. Adding him to both rosters and inserting him into the rotation gives the team a veteran starter who logged 121 2/3 innings last year and whose rehab produced a 2.89 ERA and a 32.9% strikeout rate across five starts.
This is a clear, immediate tilt toward offense and pitching balance in a tight race. The most consequential unanswered question is whether Jones can convert that rehab form into sustained effectiveness over multiple starts against big-league lineups — and whether shifting Mlodzinski to the bullpen will leave the rotation short if Jones’ outing runs into trouble. For now, Jones will take the mound Friday carrying both the club’s expectations and the club’s need to climb back into contention.
