(Featured photo by Andy Lyons/GettyImages)
The starting rotation was penned as the great strength of this Pittsburgh Pirates team heading into 2025.
With an unproven bullpen, uninspiring offense, and questionable defense, the rotation was supposed to save this team and keep them afloat.
It featured the reigning NL Rookie of the Year in Paul Skenes, a promising sophomore arm in Jared Jones, a reliable veteran in Mitch Keller, and two lefties to mix things up in Bailey Falter and Andrew Heaney.
Then, Jones goes down. A concerning arm injury in spring training has now shut him down to open the year, and he likely won’t be back until the All Star Break…if the Pirates are lucky.
Jones, who started 22 games for the Pirates last year as a rookie and posted a 4.14 ERA and 1.192 WHIP, left a pretty big hole in the Pirates’ rotation, which the organization has chosen to fill with big league reliever Carmen Mlodzinski.
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