Chandler Called Up To Pittsburgh

S. Samek

The Pittsburgh Pirates are calling up Bubba Chandler finally. It’s reported that the top pitching prospect will be called up for the Friday August 22nd, 2025, game against the Colorado Rockies at PNC Park.

However, he won’t be in the rotation to begin with. The plan is for the Pirates to use him as a bulk relief pitcher first with a chance to earn starts later this season. It’s a similar approach to a lot of pitchers that have been called up by the Pirates this year, most recently Braxton Ashcraft.

Chandler went over 100 innings with a 5-6 record and 4.05 ERA in Triple-A this season. He has been struggling a bit sense June though as he has a 5.96 ERA in that time frame, while walking 13% of batters and a WHIP of 1.77. Though his strikeout numbers are pretty good at 21%.

Those struggles seemed to push back his promotion timeline that many would have thought would have been May, or June. Many also thought he would have been up at the start of August after the trade deadline as well. Yet that didn’t happen either.

It’s a good thing to see him finally get the call. Hopefully this gives him a chance to work on things in the Major Leagues and makes it easier to make the team out of spring training next season.