Pirates Calling Up Top Prospect Bubba Chandler, Expected to Pitch in Bulk Role
Baseball’s top pitching prospect is headed to The Show.
The Pittsburgh Pirates plan to promote right-hander Bubba Chandler from Triple-A Indianapolis ahead of Friday’s series opener versus the Colorado Rockies, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Noah Hiles first reported Wednesday. He’s initially expected to pitch out of the bullpen, with Braxton Ashcraft already announced as the scheduled starter.
Chandler, the sport’s No. 7 prospect and highest-ranked hurler per MLB Pipeline, could ultimately join the club’s starting rotation if he pitches well in a bulk reliever role. Despite moving to the ‘pen, he remains a key member of their young core of starters moving forward, alongside ace Paul Skenes and Jared Jones.
The 22-year-old righty, who’ll turn 23 next month, has climbed his way through the organization’s minor-league system since becoming a third-round selection in 2021. He’s spent the entire year at Triple-A thus far, pitching to a 4.05 ERA and 3.89 FIP across 24 starts.
Walks are the biggest reason why Chandler’s big-league promotion is happening now rather than earlier this season. He features electric stuff, including a high-90s fastball and a high swing-and-miss changeup in the low-90s, but tends to lose the strike zone far too often.
Chandler has issued zero walks in just two of his 24 starts in 2025, both occurring back in April. On the season, he owns a 12 percent walk rate, a considerable spike from last season’s 8.6 percent clip across Double-A and Triple-A. Last time out, he walked five batters – matching a career-high – over just 3.1 innings.
Attacking the strike zone with increased conviction is an area where Chandler must improve to enjoy success against major-league hitters. When he’s dialled in, though, he’s capable of racking up elite strikeout totals.
Last season, the hard-throwing righty punched out just over a third of his batters faced in 26 appearances (23 starts). While he’s seen that figure fall to 27.4 percent in ‘25, his north-south fastball-changeup combo has still generated plenty of swings and misses, with both pitches registering a whiff rate of at least 30 percent.
Chandler’s high-80s slider allows him to work east-west when needed as well – a pitch that’s produced a 28.2 percent whiff rate this season. His arsenal also includes a mid-80s curveball, which he’s been throwing less than 10 percent of the time.
Everything revolves around his four-seamer, though, especially considering Triple-A opponents have hit just .233/.365/.340 against it in ‘25. When it’s located at the top of the strike zone, it’s proven extremely difficult to square up.
The Pirates are likely using these final weeks of the regular season to determine whether Chandler – Rule 5-eligible this fall – will be ready to emerge as a full-time starter in the majors at the start of next season. If so, he’d likely join Skenes and Mitch Keller as the only other starters locked into the 2026 rotation.
Johan Oviedo – who has only made one other big-league start this season – drew the start in Wednesday’s series finale versus the Toronto Blue Jays, holding them to just one run over five impressive innings to secure the 2-1 victory.
-Thomas Hall
Twitter: @Hall_Thomas_
Photo: Minda Haas Kuhlmann. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.