Jones (lat) struck out 10 and allowed one hit and no walks over five scoreless innings Tuesday in his rehab start with Triple-A Indianapolis.
While making the third start of his rehab assignment for Indianapolis, Jones showed that he's likely ready to make his return from the 15-day injured list. The lone hit he allowed on the night was an infield single, and Jones generated 15 swings and misses among his 73 pitches (53 strikes) while throwing a fastball that averaged 97.6 miles per hour, per Jack McMullen of JustBaseball.com. Assuming the Pirates are comfortable with how Jones is feeling physically coming out of the rehab start, he could be activated from the 15-day injured list and rejoin the big-league rotation as soon as Monday's series opener versus the Cubs. Jones has been on the shelf since July 4 with a Grade 2 right lat strain.