Road to The Show™: Pirates’ Chandler
Each week, MiLB.com profiles an elite prospect by chronicling the steps he's taken toward achieving his Major League dream. Here's a look at top Pirates prospect Bubba Chandler. For more stories about players on The Road to The Show, click here. It took two difficult career decisions for Bubba Chandler
Each week, MiLB.com profiles an elite prospect by chronicling the steps he's taken toward achieving his Major League dream. Here's a look at top Pirates prospect Bubba Chandler. For more stories about players on The Road to The Show, click here.
It took two difficult career decisions for Bubba Chandler to develop into one of the game’s best prospects.
MLB Pipeline’s No. 15 overall prospect produced a 3.08 ERA in 26 appearances between Triple-A Indianapolis and Double-A Altoona this season. He also tallied a system-best 148 strikeouts in 119⅔ innings while holding opposing batters to a .189 average.
The 22-year-old twice found his career at a crossroads. In 2021, he was a first-round talent as both a pitcher and switch-hitting shortstop. He also had a scholarship to play both baseball and quarterback at football powerhouse Clemson.
The Pirates selected him in the third round, offered him first-round money, and Chandler pursued baseball full time.
After getting a chance to hit in 2021 and 2022, the No. 1 Pirates prospect focused on pitching only in 2023. After some initial struggles, he’s been among the best hurlers in the Minors since the second half of last season.
The 6-foot-2, 200-pound hurler possesses an dynamic fastball that touches the upper 90s. He’s also added depth and drop to his slider and rounds out his arsenal with a developing changeup and an average curveball.
Chandler’s athleticism enables him to go deeper into games and his quarterback mentality has shaped his gameplan on the mound.
"The more you locate pitches and tunnel pitches, the more area of the zone you got opens up. It's kind of the same thing [as playing quarterback],” Chandler told MLB.com in September. “As a pitcher, you've got to command what's going on, and as a quarterback, you have to command the entire offense. How the game goes is pretty much how you play."
The native of Lawrenceville, Georgia, played baseball, football and basketball at North Oconee High School. As a sophomore, Chandler threw for 2,098 yards with 27 touchdowns and added 505 yards and four more TDs on the ground.
He committed to the University of Georgia as a baseball player in 2020. But he flipped his commitment when Clemson offered him a football scholarship two weeks later.
In his Draft year on the diamond, Chandler posted a 1.25 ERA with 96 strikeouts in 44⅔ innings while batting .383 with eight homers and 35 RBIs.
Building on the No. 1 overall pick, the Pirates amassed what MLB Pipeline called the best Draft haul of 2021. With the top pick, Pittsburgh selected University of Louisville catcher Henry Davis, an elite talent in the class who saved the club about $2 million in bonus pool money. The Pirates spread that savings over their next three picks, including Chandler, who was selected No. 72 overall and signed a deal worth $3 million -- well above the $870,700 slot value.
After signing, Chandler played in 11 games as a hitter only in the Rookie-level Florida Complex League. He went 5-for-30 and got in three games at shortstop.
Chandler returned to the FCL in 2022 and did not allow a run in 15 ⅓ innings before a promotion to Single-A Bradenton in July. He still struggled at the plate but showed impressive power.
By the end of the season, it was evident that he had a brighter future on the mound. Across both levels, he posted a 2.61 ERA with 60 strikeouts in 41 1/3 innings while producing a .713 OPS.
Chandler struggled to adjust as a pitcher only early in 2023, producing a 6.79 ERA for High-A Greensboro in his first 16 starts.
But things changed drastically as Chandler developed a new routine during the All-Star break. In nine starts to close out the season, he went 7-1 with a 1.66 ERA and was promoted to Double-A Altoona for his final start of the year.
This spring, Chandler pitched one scoreless inning in the Grapefruit League and earned the save in the Pirates' Spring Breakout marquee matchup against the Orioles.
Chandler returned to Altoona to start the season but missed time in May with forearm soreness. He didn’t find his bearings right away but hit another gear in June. Beginning with consecutive double-digit strikeout performances, Chandler posted a 2.25 ERA with 47 punchouts in 40 innings over seven starts before being promoted to Indianapolis.
That stretch was interrupted by the All-Star Futures Game, during which Chandler recorded the final outs of the National League’s victory.
Chandler maintained his momentum with Indy. He began to resemble Paul Skenes both with his International League dominance and style of facial hair. Over seven starts, he posted a 1.83 ERA with 54 strikeouts in 39⅓ innings.
It would come as a surprise if Chandler joined Skenes by breaking camp with the Pirates. But he should eventually join Pittsburgh’s potentially elite rotation sometime during the year.
Gerard Gilberto is a reporter for MiLB.com.
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