4 Pittsburgh Pirates pitching prospects who deserve a promotion

The Pittsburgh Pirates’ system is filled to the brim with pitching talent. Even with their two best pitching prospects graduating prospect status this year in Paul Skenes and Jared Jones, there are still a myriad of other pitchers in the system who are coming up and looking as exciting as ever. The Pirates could have one of the most formidable pitching staffs in baseball in the coming years.

While the Pirates have bumped some of their prospects up to the next level this year, like Braxton Ashcraft, they still have a handful of other top pitching prospects who have done extremely well in the first half of the year and deserve the bump to the next level of the minor leagues. For some, they have nothing left to prove at their current level, as they’ve been dominating all season.

For those wanting to see prospects who should get sent from the Florida Complex League to A-Ball Bradenton, you’re in luck, as I’ve already written an article on that topic. Today, we’re going to look at prospects from all levels who deserve a bump to the next step in their baseball journey.

Bubba Chandler has built off his promising 2023 season with an even better 2024. He’s pitched 63.2 innings, working to a 3.53 ERA, 3.19 FIP, and 1.01 WHIP. Chandler has kept walks under control and has an 8.7% BB%, and he’s also striking out a ton of batters with a 30.4% K%. He’s also been able to limit the long ball with a 0.71 HR/9. But since June, Chandler has been unbeatable on the mound.

Over his last 35 innings pitched, Chandler has a 1.80 ERA, 1.66 FIP, and 0.69 WHIP. He’s allowing fewer walks in this stretch than prime Greg Maddux, sporting a 2.3% walk rate, but he’s still punching out over a third of the opponents he’s gone up against with a 33.8% K%. Chandler has allowed just a single home run and 21 total hits, with opponents owning a meager .167 batting average against him.

Chandler is regularly sitting in the mid/upper-90s as a starting pitcher, topping out at 100 MPH. He’s been able to carry that velocity deep into games, too, going at least 6.2 innings in each of his last three starts. His fastball isn’t flat either, with good ride at the top of the zone, but he’ll also mix in a very good slider that will get swings and misses, a changeup, and a curveball. Chandler is putting it all together with his command on the mound, too. This is something that plagued him early in his pro career, but he’s locating without any issues now.

If he turns in another start that resembles anything like his last three or four, the Pirates might not have another choice other than to send him to Triple-A. Chandler doesn’t have much left to prove at Altoona. He’s been flat-out dominant for over a month now and has been producing quality results all year. He’s become one of the best pitching prospects in baseball, and it’s time to see what he can do at Indianapolis.