Pirates Could Have MLB's Next Rookie of Year, Too
On the heels of Paul Skenes winning the 2024 National League Rookie of the Year, could the Pittsburgh Pirates have another pitcher waiting in the wings to win the award in 2025
MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo picked his top candidates to win the NL Rookie of the Year in 2025 and had the Pirates top prospect at No. 2 in his rankings, only trailing Washington Nationals outfielder Dylan Crews, who is MLB Pipeline's top prospect in baseball.
"The Pirates are going to rinse and repeat," Mayo writes. "I don't think he'll be up on Opening Day, but the way he finished the year has me thinking he'll be pounding down that door early on from Triple-A Indianapolis, and he'll join Paul Skenes, Jared Jones and Mitch Keller in the Pirates rotation sometime around May."
Chandler is the No. 15 ranked prospect in baseball by MLB Pipeline. If he were to win the NL Rookie of the Year in 2025, the Pirates would be the first team to have the award winner in back-to-back years since the Los Angeles Dodgers with shortstop Corey Seager in 2016 and outfielder Cody Bellinger in 2017.
Skenes also touted Chandler as a potential candidate to win the award. He also noted the Pirates' other top pitching prospects, Braxton Ashcraft and Thomas Harrington and their chances to potentially win the award. Ashcraft is the No. 85 prospect while Harrington is No. 91 in MLB Pipeline's rankings. Pittsburgh is the only team to have three pitchers in MLB Pipeline's top-100 rankings.
"I think that’s a very good possibility," Skenes said. "I don’t know exactly who it is. Obviously, Bubba [Chandler] is probably the one that’s on deck. But Braxton [Ashcraft] and Thomas [Harrington], Hunter Barco, all those guys, and I know I’m leaving some guys out too, but we have a lot of talent that’s coming up through the system."
Chandler continued his ascension through the ranks in 2024, going 10-7 with a 3.08 ERA in 26 appearances, including 23 starts. He struck out 148 batters over 119.2 innings pitched and held opponents to a .189 batting average.
The hard-throwing right-hander found his stride upon arriving in Triple-A Indianapolis, going 4-0 with a 1.83 ERA in his seven starts. Chandler pitched 39.1 innings and struck out 54 batters and he held opposing hitters to a .183 batting average.
