Pirates' No. 1 prospect Bubba Chandler blocking out talk of promotion, MLB debut

Paul Skenes could not bring himself to offer an endorsement of Bubba Chandler as a reliable bullpen catcher.

This offseason, the two have trained together in a group that includes fellow Pittsburgh Pirates pitchers Jared Jones and Kyle Nicolas.

In catching Skenes, Chandler, now ranked the Pirates’ No. 1 overall prospect (and No. 15 in baseball per MLB Pipeline), was less-than-steady on the receiving end of 100 mph-plus heaters from the reigning NL Rookie of the Year.

But as for observations of the 22-year-old righty rookie looking to ascend the Pirates’ farm system as he himself did not long ago, Skenes was complimentary.

“I’m really glad I play catch with a bullpen catcher every day because throwing with him — I don’t know if his eyes aren’t very good — he was jumping out of the way of everything,” Skenes joked at PiratesFest Sunday.

“But Bubba, he’s in a good spot. He has good people around him, a good routine. Bubba works. He wants it. Stuff’s good, his body’s good. Super excited to see what he does.”

Chandler is aware that, potentially sooner rather than later this season, the Pirates could come calling for him to join the big-league roster.

How Chandler performed at Triple-A Indianapolis last year (4-0, 1.83 ERA over seven starts) following an August promotion from Double-A Altoona seems suggestive of a growing readiness to begin facing MLB batters.

All that said, Chandler is not dwelling on such hypotheticals.

“I stopped thinking about moving up and all that stuff two years ago,” Chandler said. “Once you get that out of your head, you get a little more free. I don’t necessarily think about it. Like, when I got to Triple-A, I knew I wasn’t going to (get called up to the majors), and I didn’t care at all. We were really good in (Indianapolis) last year, and everyone kind of wanted to make a playoff push. So that was my focus.

“This offseason, it’s in the back of your mind. You want to get to the big leagues, want to succeed and want to win for the city you play for, and that’s kind of when it’s been on my mind.”

Chandler’s decision to block out as much talk and thought of promotions as possible, in part, stems from a lesson learned at High-A Greensboro in 2023, when he was itching to advance to the next level and attributed some struggles on the mound to being unfocused.

Chandler, chosen by the Pirates in the third round (No. 72 overall) of the 2021 MLB Draft, eventually managed to lock in mentally and he joined the Curve before the end of that season.

“Once I figured that out, my mind eased a lot, and the game got a little nicer to me,” he said.

Chandler certainly appeared to be focused and in control last year.

In total, he went 10-7 with a 3.08 ERA over 26 games (23 starts) between Double-A and Triple-A, with the promotion to Indianapolis coming Aug. 8.

Chandler’s bread and butter is a fastball that regularly clocks in the mid-to-upper 90s, which he pairs with a slider and changeup.

Additionally, tinkering continues on a curveball to add into the mix with more regularity.

“Just trying to stay on top of everything,” Chandler said. “Command’s always been kind of an issue in the past. Last year, it really wasn’t, and it took a big step forward. So just kind of still refining stuff, getting my slider exactly where I want it, my changeup, fastball. And, yeah, I feel good. Feel the best I felt in the month of January that I ever have.”

As Jones demonstrated last spring, players can snatch an Opening Day roster spot for themselves through sheer on-field domination leading into the regular season.

Whether a similar outcome is in the cards for Chandler by the end of spring training this year remains to be seen.

Regardless, Chandler is content to worry about the things he can control.

“Just playing free and, again, like I said, not worrying about going up and why haven’t I been called up and all that stuff,” Chandler said. “Just thinking about executing each pitch, each day to the best of my ability, using the resources around me helped a lot.”