It will be a night of returns when the Minnesota Twins take on the host Pittsburgh Pirates to open a three-game series on Friday night.
For the Pirates, who are coming off consecutive losses and a series split with the Chicago Cubs, electric right-hander Jared Jones will make his return from right elbow internal brace surgery.
Meanwhile, Twins manager Derek Shelton will make his return to Pittsburgh to face his former team and the club that fired him on May 8, 2025, after the Pirates started the season with a 12-26 record.
Jones, making his first start in the majors since Sept. 27, 2024, will oppose Twins right-hander Taj Bradley (5-1, 2.77 ERA).
Jones adds another power arm to Pittsburgh’s young rotation with his 97 mph four-seamer and a nasty slider.
The 24-year-old California native made five rehab starts in the minors, compiling a 2.89 ERA with 24 strikeouts and six walks in 18 2/3 innings.
“It definitely sucks going through surgery and missing an entire year,” Jones said. “Now that I’m here again, I’m kind of grateful for it. I felt like in my downtime I really got to learn how I can throw my other pitches and make ’em a lot better. I feel like that showed kinda throughout the rehab assignment. Really just getting a better feel of what I’ve got.”
Jones will make his second career start against Minnesota after allowing three runs (two earned) in five innings during a no-decision on June 9, 2024, in Pittsburgh.
Jones’ return will move Carmen Mlodzinski to a bullpen in a bulk/long-relief role. Mlodzinski is 4-3 with a 3.76 ERA in 55 innings this season. He has started nine times and made two relief appearances.
Shelton was in his sixth season as the Pirates’ manager last season when he was fired, and Pittsburgh did not have a winning season during his tenure. Shelton was hired last October by the Twins, the team for which he was the bench coach in 2018 and ’19.
Shelton had positive things to say about the Pirates, ace Paul Skenes and rookie shortstop Konnor Griffin when Minnesota played Pittsburgh during spring training in late February, and he was reflective about his time with the Pirates this week.
“I do think that one of the things that came out of last year was I thought I got away from the attention to detail, what I thought was the attention to detail from my space,” Shelton said. “I wanted to make sure that if I ever did get the next opportunity that I would stay more on top of it and that I would build a staff that stays on top of it.”
Griffin was held out of the Pirates’ lineup on Thursday due to right forearm soreness, and Pittsburgh lost 7-2 to the Cubs.
Bradley returned Saturday from a stint on the injured list and struck out seven, walked two, and allowed one run on three hits in five innings during a win against the Boston Red Sox.
Bradley, who has never faced the Pirates, will try to flip the momentum for Minnesota. The Twins lost three of four games in a series against the host Chicago White Sox this week and have made multiple changes to their rotation due to injuries.
On Thursday, Kendry Rojas was a late scratch from his start due to what the Twins diagnosed as posterior elbow soreness in his left arm. Simeon Woods Richardson took his place and allowed five runs in 2 2/3 innings during a 6-2 loss to the White Sox.
–Field Level Media
