Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Bubba Chandler and pitcher Mitch Keller (23) during spring training works out at Pirate City on Feb. 12. Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

Pittsburgh Pirates Top Prospect Continues to Knock on Major League Door w/ Big Outing Tuesday

Originally posted on Minor League Baseball on SI
By Brady Farkas | Last updated Apr 9, 2025 10:56 AM ET

The Indianapolis Indians dropped their series-opening contest against the Louisville Bats on Tuesday night.

The Indians are the Triple-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates while the Bats share a partnership with the Cincinnati Reds.

Bubba Chandler, the Pirates' top prospect, continues to push the envelope on an eventual major league promotion, as he went 4.0 strong innings, striking out eight.

He earned special recognition from Minor League Baseball as one of the top players of the night:

Another start, another handful of goose eggs for the 22-year-old fireballer. While it’s encouraging to see Chandler average 98.6 mph on his 33 four-seam fastballs (touching 100 mph once), it’s even moreso to see his slider and changeup combine for a 40 percent whiff rate. He struck out eight of the 14 batters he faced, scattering a pair of walks and a single over four innings for the Triple-A Indians

Several Top 100 prospects put up big performances yesterday:

⭐️ Cags' 468-foot moonshot
⭐️ Kurtz homers again
⭐️ Chandler continues to deal

Complete list of top performers: https://t.co/oFLZJrn05S pic.twitter.com/1KTwHkJLjl
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) April 9, 2025

Chandler is the No. 1 prospect in the organization and No. 14 overall, per MLB Pipeline. A former third-round pick of the Pirates, he was selected from the Georgia high school ranks.

He's 0-0 this season with a 0.00 ERA in 6.2 appearances. He's 21-12 lifetime in the minors with a 3.52. He made seven appearances at Triple-A last season, so with 11 total under his belt, he may not need much more seasoning.

He'll eventually pair with Paul Skenes and Jared Jones to make a nice top-of-the-rotation in Pittsburgh. Jones is injured right now but will hopefully be back by June.

The Indians and Bats will resume their series on Wednesday.

This article first appeared on Minor League Baseball on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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