Pirates Reveal Bubba Chandler Uniform Number

He is the 25th player to wear the No. 57 jersey for the Pirates, the first since right-handed pitcher Yerry De Los Santos wore it over the 2022 and 2023 seasons.

Left-handed pitcher John Smiley is the longest tenured player that wore the No. 57 uniform number, doing so from 1986-91, with earning an All-Star nod. Fellow left-handed pitcher Zach Duke is the next longest tenured player that wore the number, doing so for five seasons from 2006-10.

Chandler arrives in Pittsburgh as the top pitching prospect and the seventh overall propsect in baseball, according to MLB Pipeline.

He posted a 5-6 record over 24 starts at Indianapolis this season, a 4.05 ERA over 100.0 innings pitched, 121 strikeouts to 53 walks, a .250 opposing batting average and a 1.48 WHIP.

Chandler had a great start to 2025, allowing just 11 earned runs through the first 11 starts and two months of the season with Indianapolis.

This featured his start on May 24 vs. the Toldeo Mudhens, Triple-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers, where he brought a no-hitter into the seventh inning, finishing with 6.1 innings pitched.

He struggled throughout the month of June, posting an 8.53 ERA over five starts and 12.2 innings pitched, with 12 earned runs allowed, 12 walks to 11 strikeouts, a .309 opposing batting average and a 2.29 WHIP.

Chandler bounced back with two of his better starts in 2025, throwing six scoreless innings on both July 4 and July 10, with 13 combined strikeouts, before struggling over these last six outings.

He has given up at least two earned runs over his last six outings and hasn't had a scoreless start since July 10.

Chandler has posted a 7.56 ERA over that time, with 22 earned runs allowed over 26.2 innings pitched, 37 hits and 28 strikeouts to 16 walks, with an opposing batting average over .300.

He will have a bulk role out of the bullpen with the Pirates and could potentially make his debut in the series opener vs. the Colorado Rockies at PNC Park on Aug. 22, coming in behind fellow rookie right-handed pitcher Braxton Ashcraft, who will start the game.

The Pirates took Chandler with 72nd overall pick in the third round of the 2021 MLB Draft out of North Oconee High School in Bogart, Ga., 60 miles east of Atlanta. He was an overslot signing, doing so for $3 million, picking the Pirates over his commitment to Clemson, where he was going to play baseball and football.

He started focusing entirely on pitching in 2023 and made it up through the minor league system and to Indianapolis in August 2024.

Chandler joins a Pirates pitching staff with strong right-handers in fellow rookie Mike Burrows, All-Star Paul Skenes, veteran Mitch Keller, Carmen Mlodzinski and Johan Oviedo, plus bullpen arms in Isaac Mattson and Dennis Santana.