Top Pirates Prospect Makes Daring Comment To Paul Skenes

Paul Skenes will be the Opening Day starting pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates this season and presumably for years to come.

Top Pirates prospect Bubba Chandler doesn’t exactly think that will be the case, though.

Pirates manager Derek Shelton informed Skenes he would take the mound when Pittsburgh faces the Miami Marlins on March 27 at loanDepot Park. The Pirates captured the moment Skenes found out with a video that went viral.

Chandler saw the video and had an eyebrow-raising comment that he made sure to deliver directly to Skenes.

“The cool thing is, he sent me a text when the video came out today and he said, ‘It’s gonna be tough next year when you’re starting Day 2,'” Skenes said, as transcribed by Sports Illustrated’s Karl Rasmussen.

Skenes isn’t just the best pitcher on the Pirates — he’s arguably the best pitcher in MLB at just 22 years old. He won National League Rookie of the Year honors after posting an 11-3 record in 23 starts with a 1.96 ERA and 170 strikeouts in 133 innings.

There’s plenty of hype surrounding Chandler, too. He’s listed as the No. 15 prospect in all of baseball by MLB Pipeline and impressed with Triple-A Indianapolis last season when he went 4-0 in seven starts with a 1.83 ERA and 54 strikeouts in 39 1/3 innings. Chandler will most likely make his MLB debut at some point this season.

That should put Chandler in line to challenge Skenes for the Opening Day nod from here on out. And that good-natured competition should mean only positive things for the Pirates.