Bubba Chandler: Pirates 2024 Minor League Player Of The Year
In Paul Skenes and Jared Jones, the Pirates’ pitching apparatus churned out a pair of premium big league starters in 2024.
Bubba Chandler is determined to make it three.
The 22-year-old righthander dominated the upper levels this season, recording a 3.08 ERA with 148 strikeouts in 119.2 innings across Double-A Altoona and Triple-A Indianapolis.
Chandler ratcheted up the nastiness as he closed in on Pittsburgh, going 4-0 with a 1.83 ERA and 54 strikeouts to 15 walks in 39.1 innings at Triple-A.
“His performance at Triple-A has really stood out,” Pirates farm director John Baker said. “He was very dominant. It’s a lot of strikes, a lot of swing-and-miss. He has always had an electric fastball.
“He has really learned how to leverage (his secondaries).”
Chandler oozes athleticism. Drafted as a two-way player out of high school in Georgia, he was committed to Clemson as a quarterback and is a scratch golfer who has the dexterity to carry a lefthanded club—despite playing righthanded—in case he finds himself in trouble.
And his 97 mph fastball is a unicorn. It scrapes triple digits and has elite velocity, carry and extension markers.
Chandler harnessed that athleticism—and refined his secondaries—more consistently in 2024.
He encouraged the Pirates with his ability to land his entire arsenal, particularly his mid-80s slider, in the zone more frequently as the season progressed, especially once challenged by more experienced Triple-A hitters.
“For Bubba, it was very important to create a floor of strikes with secondary pitches,” Baker said.
Chandler shares similar athletic and competitive makeup to Jones, who also was a two-way prep gem with a tantalizing mix of high-end traits and ceiling. The Pirates don’t have to look too far into the future to dream on a formidable rotation that features both flanking Skenes.
“His ceiling is a top-of-the-rotation starter,” Baker said. “In this organization, with this stable of pitching we have in the majors leagues, that’s a pretty high bar to try and get to.
“It will all depend on his ability to throw (his entire arsenal) in the strike zone to be consistent. That’s the metric that will determine his success at the next level.”
