The Pirates already turned an elite starting pitching prospect into an All-Star with Paul Skenes. Pittsburgh surely hopes to do the same with Bubba Chandler.
The organization’s No. 1 prospect, per MLB Pipeline, earned greater national recognition this week as the No. 7 prospect in Baseball America’s updated Top 100 list for the 2025 season.
The 2021 third-round selection found a rhythm last season in his third full professional campaign in the Pirates system. Chandler earned a promotion to Triple-A Indianapolis and performed well across seven starts (1.83 ERA). He struck out 12.4 batters per nine innings, put his quality stuff on display and reminded the sport that the Pirates have more pitching talent on the way.
Chandler should be ready to debut in 2025 as the Pirates look to become one of the best big-league rotations. This comes even after a prospect swap last season which sent right-hander Quinn Priester to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for infielder Nick Yorke, who made his MLB debut with Pittsburgh in 2024.
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