The Pirates announced this morning that theyve placed right-hander on the 15-day IL with a right lat strain. Jones was pulled from his start against the Cardinals last night after just 78 pitches last night after throwing five innings of one-run ball, and manager Derek Shelton told reporters (including ) that the quick hook was due to the i sue. Hes got a little right lat strain going on, Shelton said (as relayed by Hiles). So we decided to get him out. Pittsburgh has about their plans to carefully manage the workload of their young pitching Canaan Smith-njigba Jersey this season, a group that includes rookie fireballers Jones and Skenes. The young duo have been a revelation at the top of the Pirates rotation as Jones has pitched to an excellent 3.56 ERA with a 26.4% strikeout rate in sixteen starts, while Skenes has struck out 34.1% of opponents with a 2.06 ERA acro s nine starts. That proce s of managing workload has already begun for Jones, as the rightys last appearance prior to last nights game was all the way back on June 22. Given the fact that the club was already carefully managing Joness workload, its hardly a surprise that the club would be cautious and sit the righty down rather than have him pitch through a lat problem, even if it proves to be as minor as both Shelton and Jones himself have indicated that its expected to be. A specific timetable for Joness return has not yet been discu sed publicly, although the Pirates will need to sort out a replacement for the righty in the rotation regardle s of his IL stints length as the club will need a fifth starter on July 8 against the Mets. The club has called up outfielder to lengthen their bench mix for the time being but will need to figure out who will take the ball in Joness stead before then. Right-hander , , is already on the 40-man roster and has dominated the Double- and Triple-A levels for Pittsburgh this year with a 3.00 ERA and 25.9% strikeout rate in 69 innings but has made just three starts at the Triple-A level to this point. If the Pirates want to take things slowly with Ashcraft, they could turn to a non-roster arm such as , who pitched in the majors for the White Sox earlier this year and has looked good with a 2.08 ERA in three starts at Triple-A for the club since he joined the organization last month. Turning to Woodford (as well as other non-roster veterans currently in Triple-A such as and ) would require the club to clear space on the 40-man roster, however. Whoever the Pirates turn to in replacing Jones will be thrust into the clubs most competitive season in years. Pittsburgh has a decent 41-44 record that places them just three games out of the final NL playoff spot, and that respectable performance has led that he and the front office will be aggre sive in improving the club this summer. Much of that succe s has been thanks to the rotation, where Jones and Skenes have combined with , , and to deliver a combined ERA of 3.63 that ranks sixth among starting staffs around the league. Isiah Kiner-falefa Jersey