The top talent in the Pittsburgh Pirates farm system made his long-awaited Triple-A debut on Sunday, and it was everything we dreamed it would be — and more.
Promising right-handed pitcher Bubba Chandler was named to the starting lineup for Triple-A Indianapolis against the Nashville Sounds and delivered a near-perfect performance. He didn’t get a hit until the sixth inning and threw seven scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and one walk. His velocity reached the upper 90 mph, with his fastball reaching 98.7 mph, and he was named the International League’s Pitcher of the Week for his performance.
Chandler, currently ranked as the No. 41 prospect in baseball by MLB Pipeline, was selected by Pittsburgh in the third round (72nd overall) of the 2021 First-Year Player Draft out of North Oconee (Bogart, Georgia) High School. Drafted as a two-way player, he switched full-time to pitching in the A-ball league last season. At 21, he is the youngest player on the Indianapolis roster.
In 19 games with Double-A Altoona (16 starts) prior to his promotion, Chandler went 6-7 with a 3.70 ERA, 94 strikeouts, 1.01 WHIP and a .192 batting average against opponents in 80.1 innings pitched. He missed some time in May with forearm soreness and struggled upon his return, resulting in a 1-4 record and a 5.65 ERA.
But things really took a turn in late June, when Chandler made two consecutive starts with double-digit strikeouts. By mid-July, his batting average was below .200 and he earned a spot on the National League All-Star Futures Game roster, where he came out of the bullpen and pitched a scoreless seventh inning with a hit and a walk to end the game.
Since the beginning of June, he has an impressive 2.61 ERA and a 10.6 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Much of Chandler’s success on the mound has come from the time and effort he has put into developing secondary pitches. While his slider is his primary breaking pitch, he has made strides in his changeup recently and has also thrown in the occasional curveball.
We may not see him in Pittsburgh this year, but Chandler’s future remains bright. The thought of a possible Bubba Chandler-Paul Skenes duo at the top of the Pirates’ rotation in the major leagues gets us excited, but good things take time and Chandler will likely need some more time to mature in the minors. For now, he’ll be a lot of fun to watch in Indianapolis.
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