The Pirates lost their Grapefruit League game to Tampa Bay, 5-2, and they may have lost a lot more, as fireballing starter Jared Jones was shut down because of pain in his elbow.
Jones will not pitch again in spring training and manager Derek Shelton said the Bucs will “have to look at what happens going into the season.” Senior Director of Sports Medicine Todd Tomczyk said Jones has had medical imaging done on the elbow and the team is “kind of on hold, in a waiting pattern,” until they get a second opinion on the test results.
Meanwhile, Tampa Bay touched up Andrew Heaney for back-to-back home runs in the second inning yesterday. Ji Hwan Bae, Jack Suwinski, and Henry Davis all had two hits for the Bucs.
Heaney went four-and-a-third innings and gave up 3 runs on 6 hits with two strikeouts. He said he’s starting to feel like himself on the mound.
The Pirates have today off. Mitch Keller will start against the Red Sox tomorrow night.
