Pittsburgh Pirates Ace Paul Skenes Speaks Highly of Top Prospect Bubba Chandler

Speaking at PiratesFest recently, Pittsburgh Pirates ace (and National League Rookie of the Year) Paul Skenes spoke very highly of current top prospect Bubba Chandler.
“Bubba, he’s in a good spot,” Skenes said 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.”
That information came from Alex Stumpf's PiratesBeat Newsletter.
Chandler, 22, is currently ranked as the No. 15 prospect in all of Minor League Baseball (Per MLB Pipeline). A third-round pick in the 2021 MLB Draft, Chandler played his high school ball at North Oconee High School in Georgia. He was recruited by multiple big-time college football programs, including Ole Miss and Clemson. He had signed onto play football and baseball at Clemson before going pro in baseball.
Chandler made 26 minor league appearances in 2024, going 10-7 with a 3.08 ERA. He made 19 appearances for Double-A Altoona and seven more from Triple-A Indianapolis. He was 4-0 with a 1.83 at Triple-A and figures to start the year there again in 2025.
However, he may not be there for long. MLB.com predicts him to make his major league debut in 2025, and when he does, he'll pair with Skenes and Jared Jones to make up an exciting young core of starters in Pittsburgh. Veteran Mitch Keller is still there as well to help lead the staff.
The Pirates are coming off a season in which they finished last in the National League Central.
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