Pirates Prospect Watch: Bubba Chandler Pulled After Two Outs

Pirates’ minor league affiliates went 0-3 on Friday, with the Altoona Curve suffering the worst news of all as right-hander Bubba Chandler, MLB Pipeline’s No. 67 prospect, left during the first inning following an injury delay.

Chandler walked five of the seven batters he faced before a trainer intervened, pulling him out of the game. The 21-year-old struggled mightily in his past two starts, with his ERA ballooning from 3.10 to 5.84 in the process. Whether the training staff pulled him from the game for mechanical issues or something more remains to be seen. Altoona ended up allowing six runs in the first inning, five of them charged to Chandler. That marked all the offense their opponents needed, as the Curve fell 6-3.

Elsewhere in the system, the Indianapolis Indians couldn’t keep up with the Toledo Mud Hens offense, falling 8-3 after surrendering five unanswered runs.

The Bradenton Marauders fell 5-2 to the Tampa Tarpons, hitting a pair of solo homers but struggling with runners on base.

High-A Greensboro saw their game postponed due to rain, with a makeup doubleheader scheduled for Saturday.

Here are the top performing Pirates’ prospects on Friday.

Triple-A Indianapolis (18-21)

LF Canaan Smith-Njigba

• Day: 1-for-2 with a triple and 2 walks.
• Season: .253/.381/.379 with 4 doubles, 2 triples and a homer in 27 games.

2B Ji-hwan Bae

• Day: 2-for-4 with a double and a walk.
• Season: .356/.473/.522 with 4 doubles, a triple and 3 homers in 25 minor league rehab games between Single-A and Indianapolis.

Double-A Altoona (9-28)

3B Brenden Dixon

• Game: 2-for-3 with a homer and a walk.
• Season: .191/.296/.340 with a double and 2 homers in 17 games.

SS Tsung-Che Cheng

• Game: 2-for-4 with a homer.
• Season: .204/.339/.330 with a double and 4 homers in 30 games.

High-A Greensboro (22-14)

DNP: inclement weather.

Single-A Bradenton (17-20)

C Axiel Plaz

• Game: 2-for-4 with a homer.
• Season: .217/.345/.391 with a double and a homer in 9 games between rookie ball and Bradenton.

LF Eddy Rodriguez

• Game: 1-for-4 with a homer.
• Season: .283/.371/.400 with 4 doubles and a homer in 17 games.