Paul Skenes Excited About Pirates Next Star Pitcher

Another top pitching prospect could take the mound for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2025.
Indianapolis Indians pitcher and Pittsburgh Pirates top prospect Bubba Chandler delivers a pitch to an opposing batter.
Indianapolis Indians pitcher and Pittsburgh Pirates top prospect Bubba Chandler delivers a pitch to an opposing batter. / IMAGO/ZUMA Press Wire
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Paul Skenes took the baseball world by storm for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2024 en route to winning the National League Rookie of the Year and finishing third for the NL CY Young Award.

Could the Pirates have another rookie starting pitcher who makes an immediate impact upon arriving in the big leagues? Skenes believes that Pirates top prospect Bubba Chandler is in a good situation and he can't wait to see how the hard-throwing right-hander fares if he does make his highly anticipated debut in 2025.

“Bubba, he’s in a good spot,” Skenes told MLB.com's Alex Stumpf at PiratesFest. “He has good people around him [and] a good routine. Bubba works. He wants it. Stuff’s good, his body’s good. Super excited to see what he does.”

Chandler isn't just a top prospect in the Pirates organization, he's viewed as one of the best pitching prospects in baseball. Baseball America has Chandler ranked as the No. 7 prospect in baseball, No. 15 by MLB Pipeline and No. 19 by The Athletic.

Chandler spent last season pitching for Double-A Altoona and Triple-A Indianapolis and went 10-7 with a 3.08 ERA in 26 appearances (23 starts) and struck out 148 batters over 119.2 innings pitched and held opposing hitters to a .189 batting average. In Altoona, the hard-throwing right-hander was 6-7 with a 3.70 ERA across 16 appearances, 13 of which were starts and he struck out 95 batters in his 80.1 innings pitched.

The Pirates' top prospect took his game to another level as the difficulty was supposed to increase in Triple-A. Chandler dominated in Indianapolis, going 4-0 with a 1.83 ERA in seven starts and he struck out 54 batters in 39.1 innings pitched.

The Pirates' young pitching is easily the most intriguing aspect of the team. Skenes, Jared Jones and Mitch Keller will lead the way to at least begin the 2025 season, but it may not be long before they're joined by Chandler to give Pittsburgh one of the most promising rotations in baseball.

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