Minor League Baseball

Paul Skenes Has High Praise For Pittsburgh Pirates' Top Prospect

Bubba Chandler is expected to make his major league debut this season and Skenes is excited to see it happen.
Brady Farkas|
Pittsburgh Pirates right fielder Bryan Reynolds (10) pulls starting pitcher Paul Skenes (30) in the seventh inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium on April 25.
Pittsburgh Pirates right fielder Bryan Reynolds (10) pulls starting pitcher Paul Skenes (30) in the seventh inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium on April 25. | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

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Pittsburgh Pirates

Count Pittsburgh Pirates' ace Paul Skenes among those who are excited to see top prospect Bubba Chandler debut for the Pirates (hopefully) later this season.

Per MLB Pipeline:

“He’s my buddy,” Skenes answered. “Looking forward to being with him every day, whenever that is. He’s going to bring a lot to the staff, I’m fired up to see that. I’m excited.”

Chandler, 22, is the No. 14 prospect in the game, according to MLB Pipeline. Playing for Triple-A Indianapolis, he's 1-0 through five starts. He has a 1.33 ERA and has struck out 27 batters in 20.1 innings. He leads the International League in batting average against (.106) and WHIP (0.64).

He's 22-12 lifetime in the minor leagues with a 3.45 ERA. He was a third-round pick of the Pirates in the 2021 draft out of the high school ranks. He was supposed to paly football at Clemson before turning pro in baseball.

The following comes from a portion of his MLB.com prospect profile:

Chandler has rapidly evolved from an athlete and thrower to a complete pitcher with a real idea of how to use all four of his pitches effectively. It still starts with his elite-level fastball that averaged 96.7 mph and touched 99 in 2024, according to Synergy. It has impressive vertical break, his command of the pitch has improved and he holds the premium velocity deep into starts. The Pirates challenged Chandler to focus on the development of his secondary offerings, and he responded with a much-improved 86-87 mph slider and upper-80s changeup while still dropping in the occasional low-80s curve. 

The Pirates will play the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday night at the big-league level. Pittsburgh is 11-19 and in last palce in the National League Central.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is the senior writer for “Minor League Baseball on SI’’ and the host of “The Payoff Pitch’’ podcast, which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. Follow Brady on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady.

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