Bubba Chandler Excited for Future with Pirates

It helps that he's been teammates with many of them, especially right-hander Braxton Ashcraft, who threw five scoreless innings vs. the Rockies before Chandler came in.

Chandler now has the same role as Ashcraft, coming up as a bulk reliever after starting throughout the minor leagues, and will learn from him in this campaign.

He loves the Pirates pitching staff and recognizes the great worth ethic that each one of them has.

“I think everyone in this clubhouse is freaking phenomenal at what they do," Chandler said. "They wouldn’t be here if they weren’t. The pitchers we have come to work every day ready to go out there and put up zeroes. Braxton is a guy who has put up with a ton of injuries, a ton of crappy stuff. You see what he’s doing now and he’s a guy that’s going to play for a long, long time. He’s really good."

“Paul [Skenes], I’m not going to give him his flowers but he’s a leader in the clubhouse, he’s a guy that guys gravitate towards. You see what he’s doing every week. It’s unbelievable. He’s a guy who works, and you kind of get out what you put in. Mitch [Keller], everyone in here, they work as hard as they can. You get out of it what you put in."

Chandler is one of a few young pitchers, along with Ashcraft and right-hander Mike Burrows, who are now with the Pirates and working towards holding a position in the starting rotation next season.

The Pirates also have right-handers in All-Star Paul Skenes, veteran Mitch Keller, Johan Oviedo back from injury, Jared Jones returning in 2026 after internal brace surgery and left-hander Hunter Barco, who could make his MLB debut next season.

Pittsburgh also has strong bullpen options in right-handers Carmen Mlodzinski, Dennis Santana and Isaac Mattson, all of whom hope to contribute to a winning team next season.

Chandler plans on leaning on all the pitchers, regardless if their a starter ori the bullpen, and improving at the MLB level in 2025, regardless of his role.

“Everyone’s different," Chandler said. "Mitch, he’s thrown a lot of innings and has had a lot of good years. Paul hasn’t been here long but you see what he’s done. Guys like Carmen and Braxton, they’ve been in the position I’ve been put in now, starters to long reliever. They can help me. I talked to Carmen in the first inning about my routine. He said do this, don’t do that. You don’t want to be too hot, don’t want to be too cold. … Isaac Mattson is another one I’ve been teammates with for two years, just a dawg. He gave me some words of wisdom going into the game."