{"id":106093,"date":"2025-08-20T16:51:32","date_gmt":"2025-08-20T20:51:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=106093"},"modified":"2025-08-20T16:51:32","modified_gmt":"2025-08-20T20:51:32","slug":"top-pitching-prospect-pirates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/08\/20\/top-pitching-prospect-pirates\/","title":{"rendered":"Report: Top Pitching Prospect to Join Pirates for Much-Anticipated MLB Debut"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Finally, the moment Pittsburgh Pirates fans have been waiting for: the Pirates will select the contract of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/register\/player.fcgi?id=chandl002roy&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-08-20_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bubba Chandler<\/a>. The move will be official on Friday when the Pirates host the Colorado Rockies at PNC Park. Alex Stumpf of MLB.com was the first to break the news.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Source: the Pirates are selecting the contract of Bubba Chandler Friday.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Alex Stumpf (@AlexJStumpf) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AlexJStumpf\/status\/1958189821941158055?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">August 20, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p>&nbsp;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Somebody will have to be dropped from both the active and 40-man rosters to make room for Chandler. That shouldn\u2019t be too difficult, however, given the number of underachievers on this year\u2019s Pirates squad.<\/p>\n<h3>Pirates to Select Bubba Chandler<\/h3>\n<p>Stumpf further reports that Chandler will be used as a \u201cbulk reliever,\u201d which old-timers like me used to call \u201clong relief.\u201d The reason for the change in terminology is unknown. Perhaps Costco sponsored the change. <em>(\u201cNow entering the game in bulk relief, brought to you by Costco, where you can buy in bulk. . .\u201d<\/em>) In any event, it means he\u2019ll be used for multiple innings at a time out of the bullpen.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Bubba Chandler will be used as a bulk reliever with\/ the Pirates. The team views him as a starter long term, and he can get starts this year, but the club wants him to get Major League experience, and this is consistent with the role\/expectations of other young pitchers like Ashcraft<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Alex Stumpf (@AlexJStumpf) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AlexJStumpf\/status\/1958191089539580142?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">August 20, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p>&nbsp;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Former Baltimore Orioles manager and Hall-of-Fame <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/managers\/weaveea99.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Earl Weaver<\/a> used to say that long relief was the best way to break in a rookie pitcher. It\u2019s worked well for the Pirates with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/a\/ashcrbr01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-08-20_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Braxton Ashcraft<\/a>, who recently joined the rotation.<\/p>\n<h3>\u201cFour Potentially Really Good Pitches\u201d<\/h3>\n<p>Roy Ruben Chandler (What? You thought his parents named him \u201cBubba?\u201d) is a 22-year-old right-handed starting pitcher who\u2019s the Pirates\u2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/05\/26\/four-mlb-top-prospects-call-up-timelines\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">No. 2 prospect<\/a> and the No. 7 prospect in all major league baseball according to MLB Pipeline. Standing at six feet three inches, 218 pounds, he features a triple-digit fastball with vertical movement to go with an effective slider, curve, and changeup. \u201cFour potentially really good pitches\u201d is how general manager Ben Cherington described them to Stumpf last April. He was drafted as a two-way player \u2013 a pitcher\/shortstop \u2013 in the third round of the 2021 June Amateur Draft. After two minor league seasons, where he produced a .189\/.329\/.364 slash line, he began to concentrate strictly on pitching. It was the best career move since <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bobdylan.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bob Dylan<\/a> picked up an electric guitar.<\/p>\n<p>Chandler earned a promotion to Double-A Altoona late in 2023. Starting the season there in 2024, he was 6-7 with a 3.70 ERA. However, his 1.008 WHIP, 3.25 FIP, opponents&#8217; .189 batting average, and 10.5 strikeouts per nine innings (SO\/9) indicate he pitched far better than his record and ERA would suggest. That earned him a promotion to Indianapolis, where he was 4-0 with a 1.83 ERA, 1.042 WHIP, and 12.4 SO\/9.<\/p>\n<p>In 24 starts this season at Indy, Chandler was 5-6 with a 4.05 ERA, 1.480 WHIP, and 10.9 SO\/9. This included tossing six no-hit innings against the Toledo Mud Hens in May. On June 17, his ERA stood at 2.60 and his WHIP at 1.210. Chandler has hit some hard times since, however, which delayed his promotion to the Pirates. Specifically, he\u2019s been rocked for 29 earned runs in his last 10 starts, covering 44 2\/3 innings.<\/p>\n<h3>\u201cBest Fastball I\u2019ve Ever Seen\u201d<\/h3>\n<p>Chandler\u2019s Pirates teammates have been as anxious as the fans to see him in the bigs. In April, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/s\/skenepa01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-08-20_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Paul Skenes<\/a>, who stands as the only reason Chandler isn\u2019t regarded as the Pirates\u2019 greatest pitching prospect since <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/c\/colege01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-08-20_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Gerrit Cole<\/a>, told Stumpf, \u201cHe\u2019s going to bring a lot to the staff. I\u2019m fired up to see that. I\u2019m excited.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/d\/davishe01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-08-20_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Henry Davis<\/a>, who caught Chandler at Indianapolis, recently spoke to Kevin Gorman of <em>Trib Live<\/em>. \u201cI\u2019ve seen a lot of good fastballs,\u201d gushed Davis. \u201cHe\u2019s got the best fastball I\u2019ve ever seen.\u201d Davis knows of that which he speaks. He\u2019s been Skenes\u2019 catcher since his recall in early April.<\/p>\n<p>Chandler joins fellow Pirates prospects <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/b\/burromi01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-08-20_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mike Burrows<\/a>, who was <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/05\/21\/pirates-shuffle-rotation-mlodzinski-burrows\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">recalled<\/a> on May 21, and Ashcraft, who <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/05\/26\/pirates-call-up-braxton-ashcraft\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">joined the team<\/a> on Memorial Day. The pitching staff that fans have envisioned is finally beginning to take shape. Can <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/h\/harrito03.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-08-20_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tom Harrington<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/register\/player.fcgi?id=barco-000hun&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-08-20_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Hunter Barco<\/a> be far behind?<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo Credits: Christine Tannous\/IndyStar \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Finally, the moment Pittsburgh Pirates fans have been waiting for: the Pirates will select the contract of Bubba Chandler. The move will be official on Friday when the Pirates host the Colorado Rockies at PNC Park. Alex Stumpf of MLB.com was the first to break the news. &nbsp; Source: the Pirates are selecting the contract [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5010,"featured_media":106120,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26,1071,35],"tags":[3215,28972,4906,5395,611,4875,28759,6371,28921],"class_list":["post-106093","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pirates","category-mlb","category-news","tag-ben-cherington","tag-braxton-ashcraft","tag-bubba-chandler","tag-earl-weaver","tag-gerrit-cole","tag-henry-davis","tag-mike-burrows","tag-paul-skenes","tag-thomas-harrington"],"modified_by":"Evan Mazza, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106093","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5010"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106093"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106093\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":106122,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106093\/revisions\/106122"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/106120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106093"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106093"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106093"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}