Bubba Chandler's Track Record Gives Pirates Faith
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PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Pirates starter Bubba Chandler is one of the more promising young pitchers in baseball, but his latest showing was far below his expectations.
Chandler gave up three runs in the 5-0 loss to the San Diego Padres in the series opener at PNC Park on April 6, going just 4.1 innings and allowing five hits and four walks as well.
The 23-year old was brutally honest after the game, disappointed in how he pitched and how he hurt the Pirates pitching staff moving forward for the rest of the series.
"Pretty bad. I mean, it's piss poor," Chandler said postgame. "Hits are fine, it's stuff that's gonna happen, but not competing in the zone is just pathetic. It's eating at me, and I'm gonna fix it, clean it up. I've got five more days before I throw again. It won't happen again.
"Very pissed off. Hate that we lost, but again, I'm just setting our team up for failure right now, with the guys having to come in out of the 'pen a lot sooner than they should. That stuff's gotta get cleaned up."
Chandler Struggling with Command in 2026
The Pirates brought up Chandler for the first time in 2025 and he made seven appearances and four starts following his MLB debut on Aug. 22.
Chandler kept his walks down, just four over 31.0 innings pitched and none over his last three starts, posting 19 strikeouts over that time.
He walked six batters in his first start of 2026 vs. the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park on March 31 and his four walks vs. the Padres make it 10 so far over 10.1 innings pitched, good for a 10.38 BB/9.
Chandler is fine with giving up hits every now and then, which is understandable, as hitters will get some good contact on his 99-100 mph four-seam fastball.
What's annoying Chandler the most is his lack of ability to find the zone and just get guys out, which is resulting in walks.
Chandler is still confident he can get it back, especially with him being fully healthy and ready to go, but is focusing on executing in those moments that he hasn't so far.
"I don't know. Some point. You start off good, you end bad, and start off bad, end good. Just putting together a clean outing. It's pretty simple stuff," Chandler said.
"Let 'em put it in play. Walks kill you. Singles really don't. Probability of four singles in a row is pretty low, but a walk, fastball, two walks and a single, you're probably scoring two. Just simplifying the game is something I'm not doing. Like I said, it's pissing me off and I'll fix it and get better.
"But yeah, it's a long year. Feel great. It's kind of all you can ask for is, body's in a good spot. Doing everything I can every day to get out there and compete. Just got to get better."
Track Record Shows Chandler Will Bounce Back
Chandler had his worst start in his first ever as a major leaguer, as he allowed nine runs over 2.2 innings pitched vs. the Milwaukee Brewers at PNC Park on Sept. 7.
He then had those three fantastic starts after he faced the Brewers, showing exactly why he was one of the top pitching prospects in baseball.
Chandler has great offspeed pitches in his changeup and slider, both of which he needs to rely on more than just throwing his fastball 65-70% of the time, which should cut down on the walks.
He also had three of his four strikeouts come on his offspeed pitches vs. the Padres, which shows he should trust them more.
Chandler has also not had that high of a BB/9, with his 4.77 BB/9 at Triple-A Indianapolis the highest over the past three full seasons.
He knows that he can get back to that form again and he won't change his fearless mindset, as he continues challenging hitters going forward.
"Yeah, I've not walked people before," Chandler said. "Last year, I had great outings. I had one bad one. I didn't walk anybody. I can do it. Just got to compete. Throwing the ball down the middle — game's hard enough. Hitters tell you everything you need to know. At least 75% of the time, you throw a ball down the middle, it's pretty good. Pretty good outcome. So just the thought is throw strikes. I'm not going to change anything."
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.