Five Pirates to begin, continue rehab assignments at Triple-A Indianapolis

Jones delivered a bounce-back outing with five innings of one-hit baseball.

Reinforcements are soon returning to Pittsburgh for the final month of the season.

Pittsburgh Pirates second baseman Nick Gonzales, starter Jared Jones, and relievers Ryan Borucki, Colin Holderman, and Carmen Mlodzinski all played at Triple-A Indianapolis on Tuesday as a part of their Minor League rehab assignments.

Jones and Borucki previously spent time in Indy before being joined by Gonzales, Holderman, and Mlodzinski. Tuesday marked the first time the latter three players appeared in a rehab game.

Jones (lat strain) stole the show as the highlight of the night. The star Pirates righty delivered five scoreless innings of one-hit ball and struck out 10 batters. Jones only walked one and threw 53 of his 73 pitches for strikes. He allowed five runs (four earned) in 3.1 innings during his first of two rehab starts on August 14.

Gonzales (groin) finished 1-for-3 with a single, and Borucki (nerve issue) pitched a scoreless sixth inning and punched out two batters. Borucki led all of baseball in WHIP (0.74) last season but remains sidelined from big league action since April, largely due to numerous rehab attempts causing setbacks.

Holderman (wrist) allowed a game-tying home run in the seventh and walked a batter in one inning of work. Home runs remain an issue for Holderman, who took four consecutive losses in games he pitched before being placed on the injured list. He only threw half of his 16 pitches for strikes.

One of the Pirates’ most reliable setup options, Mlodzinski (right shoulder strain) shoved a scoreless eighth. He struck out one on 17 pitches (10 strikes). Only 37 games remain in the 2024 season, as the Pirates are in prime position to regain critical pieces of their pitching staff and starting second baseman. MLB rosters expand to 28 on September 1. All five players returning could paint a clearer picture of what the 2025 Pirates could look like next spring.