Pirates Place Jared Jones on Injured List, Recall Joshua Palacios

After it was revealed Jared Jones was dealing with a right lat strain after a premature exit on Wednesday night, the Pittsburgh Pirates have placed the rookie right-hander on the 15-day injured list.

Jones made his first start since June 22 on Wednesday against the St. Louis Cardinals. He held the Cardinals to one run in five innings and struck out five but was pulled after the fifth despite only throwing 78 pitches.

After the game, Jones didn’t seem overly concerned about the injury but the Pirates decided to play it safe with their promising rookie.

On the season, Jones has gone 5-6 with a 3.56 ERA across 16 starts. In 91 innings, he’s yielded 74 hits, walked 27 and struck out 98 batters. Jones is second amongst rookies in strikeouts and is tied for second in innings pitched.

The Pirates have Mitch Keller, Paul Skenes, Bailey Falter and Martín Pérez currently in the rotation. Two others are on a rehab stint with Triple-A Indianapolis — Marco Gonzales and Quinn Priester. The Pirates also have Luis Ortiz, who has served as a bulk reliever and has made one traditional start this season, to fill Jones’ absence if needed.

In addition to placing Jones on the injured list, the Pirates recalled outfielder Joshua Palacios from Indianapolis.

In 21 games at Triple-A this season, Palacios has hit .311 with an .805 OPS, five doubles, one home run and eight RBIs. Since rejoining the Indians on June 11 after a rehab stint with High-A Greensboro, Palacios has hit .362 and had seven hits over his last 11 at-bats.

The 28-year-old played 91 games with the Pirates last season and slashed .239/.279/.413 with nine doubles, a pair of triples, 10 homers and 40 RBIs.

Palacios, who is not in the Pirates’ starting lineup for the series finale on Thursday, will wear No. 77.