According to reports, the Pittsburgh Pirates are calling up Bubba Chandler, but he won’t be a starting pitcher.
The Post-Gazette’s Noah Hiles reports that Chandler will be “added to the roster Friday.”
“He is expected to pitch out of the bullpen, in a long relief role,” added Hiles.
MLB.com’s Alex Stumpf reports that Chandler may get a few starts this year, “but the club wants him to get Major League experience and this is consistent with the role/expectation of other young pitchers like (Braxton) Ashcraft.”
Chandler is 5-6 in Triple-A Indianapolis this season with a 4.05 ERA over 24 starts.
He’s pitched 100 innings in 2024, striking out 121 and walking 53. He has a 1.48 WHIP.
Chandler is the top starting pitching prospect in the MLB Pipeline.
The 22-year-old was drafted in the 3rd round of the 2021 draft as a two-way player (short stop and pitcher) but has focused on pitching the past couple seasons.
Chandler also picked baseball over football. He was a quarterback at Clemson.