Pirates Rookie Ends Season With Highly Encouraging Streak

The Pittsburgh Pirates watched a budding ace blossom to close the 2025 regular season.

Bubba Chandler ended his late-season promotion on a high note, allowing one run in Saturday’s 3-1 win over the Atlanta Braves. The rookie pitcher registered six strikeouts to no walks over 5 2/3 innings in a homecoming for the Georgia native.

That outing also marked Chandler’s third consecutive start without allowing a walk. Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette noted that Chandler had never accomplished that feat throughout his professional career.

Control was a significant problem for Chandler in the minors this season. The top prospect issued 53 walks in 100 innings with Triple-A Indianapolis.

Chandler hadn’t gone a start without yielding a walk since April 25 when the Pirates promoted him on Aug. 22. He’d surrendered five walks in his last outing before the call-up.

However, that problem disappeared in the majors. Chandler surrendered just four walks in 31 2/3 innings with the Pirates, upping his strike percentage from 62.3 to 65.5.

Introduced as a reliever, the Pirates moved him to the rotation in September. Chandler received a rude welcome when allowing nine hits and nine runs (and three walks) to the Milwaukee Brewers on Sept. 7, but he’s responded by permitting seven combined hits, no walks and two runs over his final three starts.

Pirates pitching coach Oscar Marin liked how Chandler handled his first MLB setback, per MLB.com’s Alex Stumpf.

“When somebody gets their butt kicked, how he responds says a lot,” Marin said. “What he was able to do when he got his butt kicked to bounce back showed us a lot, showed me a lot — the type of person, player, the type of character he has.”

The rough outing against Milwaukee inflated Chandler’s ERA to 4.02, but the 23-year-old concluded his first big league action with a 0.93 WHIP in seven appearances. His 2.66 FIP and 3.08 SIERA also paint a bright future for Chandler as a full-time starter in 2026.

More MLB: Which Pirates Player Will Benefit Most From New ABS Challenge System?