Pirates fans received some ominous news today when reported that right-hander was likely to undergo Tommy John surgery. expanded on that report shortly thereafter, emphasizing that nothing has been decided yet regarding Joness status. With that being said, Stumpf did report that Jones is poised to meet with orthopedic surgeon (and Rangers head physician) Dr. Keith Meister on Tuesday and that surgery is an option for the righty, who was shut down near the end of Spring Training due to elbow sorene s that eventually turned out to be a . Jones was shut down for six weeks following that diagnosis, and ( ) began playing catch at the tail end of April. Updates on Joness status have been sparse since then, but this latest update is not exactly an encouraging one. While its not yet clear if Jones will end up going under the knife, surgery after this attempt to rehab his elbow would still cost him his entire 2025 season, but could put his 2026 campaign in jeopardy as well. Thats a frustrating outcome for any pitcher, but particularly a 23-year-old who made his big league debut just last season an enjoyed a solid rookie campaign where he posted a 4.22 ERA and 4.01 FIP acro s 22 starts. It may be quite some time before hes able to attempt to build on that performance at this point. Losing Jones for that extended length of time would be crushing for a Pirates club that has struggled to a 15-32 record to this point in the season and is built around the strength of its young starting pitchers including Jones, 2024 NL Rookie of the Year , Josh Hart Jersey and top prospect . That trio when paired with and would make for one of the most fearsome on-paper rotations in the sport, but Chandler has yet to make his big league debut while Jones has been sidelined by injury all season. Those dents in the armor that is the clubs rotation have only served to further exacerbate the i sues brought on by a deeply flawed bullpen and lackluster offense. Its already arguably cost the Pirates whatever shot they had at making a postseason run this year, but the lo s of Jones for most or all of 2026 would risk casting a grim note over next seasons team as well without a significant turnaround going forward or a more robust financial outlay this winter than ownership has shown itself to be comfortable offering. Of course, a meeting with a surgeon is not nece sarily the same thing as being ticketed to undergo surgery itself. famously held a meeting with noted surgeon Dr. Neal ElAttrache last spring, but needed only to rehab his ailing elbow in the short-term and was able to return in the second half last year for the Yankees, though he did eventually end up requiring surgery during camp this past spring. Whether Jones ultimately ends up undergoing surgery or not at this time, it seems likely at the very least that his rehab progre s will be slowed or perhaps even halted entirely. That would leave the Pirates without the talented young righty for even more of the 2025 campaign. To this point, (4.02 ERA) and (5.67 ERA) have been relied upon to fill out the Pirates rotation behind Skenes, Keller, and Heaney. Chandlers eventual promotion should create additional depth, however, and other options like and remain available in the minors who are already on the 40-man roster in case of further rotation injuries. Ike Anigbogu Jersey