Bubba Chandler Isn't Falling Out With Pirates Yet
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PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates have a solid starting rotation, but one pitcher has had some issues as of late.
Pirates right-handed starting pitcher Bubba Chandler is in his first full season in the rotation and hasn't had the campaign he's wanted, with a 1-5 record over nine starts, a 5.14 ERA over 42.0 innings pitched, 36 strikeouts to 31 walks, a .213 batting average allowed (BAA) and a 1.52 WHIP.
Chandler was hard on himself after his most recent start vs. the Philadelphia Phillies at PNC Park on May 16, where he gave up five runs and threw just 73 pitches over three innings, describing his pitching as "soft."
Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said on the Pirates Insider Show the next day that they know Chandler is struggling, but that they know the player he really is and that they're confident he'll get back to his best self soon.
"He’s an elite athlete," Cherington said. "He’s capable of making adjustments. He’s so important to the organization and has such a big upside. We just got to hang with him and keep pushing him. He’s too important and I believe his next outing will be better.”
Where Chandler Has Struggled in 2026
Chandler had a solid start to the season, with a 3.15 ERA over his first four starts, lowering his walk rate and having his best outing of his MLB career vs. the Tampa Bay Rays at PNC Park on April 17, allowing just one run over six innings
His next start vs. the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field on April 23 saw him give up six earned runs over four innings in a 6-1 defeat and he hasn't pitched that effectively since.
Chandler has posted a 6.95 ERA over 22 innings pitched in his last five starts, allowing 20 hits, 18 runs (17 earned), 18 walks and five home runs, while posting 19 strikeouts.
His walk rate is most concerning, with a 6.64 BB/9 rate, which would easily serve as the highest in MLB if he were a qualified pitcher.
Chandler has walked multiple batters in all but two starts and at least four batters in five starts and set a season-high of six walks in two different starts.
Command is something that Chandler has struggled with in the past, but he was brilliant in 2025 with the Pirates, as he walked just four batters over 31.1 innings pitched
Cherington has seen Chandler struggle with his command at times, but noted that he can have stretches like he did at the end of last season, so the key is just finding that consistency in lowering his walks.
"In terms of his steps forward, when you look at how much of the improvement that we know he wants to see and that we believe he’ll get to," Cherington said. "Some of it is just dominating counts right, we’ve talked about it. Is that more about process? Like how is he getting maybe behind in counts or how is he getting to the walks, or is it more physical, like delivery and location, things like that.
"It can be a little bit of both. Obviously those things can interact with each other. We’ve seen Bubba in the past go through stretches where he does have a little harder time controlling the walks, then all of a sudden, for six weeks, he’s not walking anybody."
Another Key Area of Concern for Chandler
Chandler has also struggled with batters getting really good contact off of his pitches, giving them extra base hits and putting him into trouble early in games.
His four-seam fastball and slider are the two pitches that opposing hitters are doing really good with, gettinga 42.1% hard contact rate on his four-seam fastball and a 46.7% hard contact rate on his slider.
Chandler's fastball can be really effective, as he averages 98.4 mph on it and can really run it by opposing hitters, but his location of his four-seam fastball isn't helping him.
A lot of his fastballs are coming over the middle of the plate, which makes it easy for good contact and Chandler has gotten punished for that, including on his three-run home run he allowed to Phillies slugger Bryce Harper in his most recent start.
Chandler's slider isn't as poorly located, but it's still in the same location, down and a bit below the strike zone, which Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto hit for a two-run double to make it 5-0.
The young Pirates pitcher has to make those two pitches much more effective and if he can combine that with his solid changeup and impressive new sweeper, then that's a big step towards him developing into the starter the franchise sees him becoming.
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Dominic writes for Pittsburgh Pirates On SI, Pittsburgh Panthers Pn SI and also, Pittsburgh Steelers On SI. A Pittsburgh native, Dominic grew up watching Pittsburgh Sports and wrote for The Pitt News as an undergraduate at the University of Pittsburgh, covering Pitt Athletics. He would write for Pittsburgh Sports Now after college and has years of experience covering sports across Pittsburgh.