Top prospect Chandler debuts with 4-inning save

PITTSBURGH — Bubba Chandler didn’t disappoint in his major league debut for the Pittsburgh Pirates

The hard-throwing 22-year-old right-hander, considered the top pitching prospect in baseball, threw four scoreless innings in relief to get the save in a 9-0 win over the Colorado Rockies on Friday night.

Chandler became just the fourth pitcher to record a four-inning save in his major league debut since the save became an official statistic in 1969.

Chandler, officially called up from Triple-A Indianapolis earlier in the day, entered in the top of the sixth against Colorado after five innings of one-hit ball by Pirates starter Braxton Ashcraft.

Chandler’s first pitch in the majors was a 99 mph fastball that Orlando Arcia fouled off. Arcia took a 97 mph heater for a ball, then laced a 98 mph four-seamer off the left-field wall for a double.

It was the lone mistake Chandler would make. He fanned Ryan Ritter on a 100 mph fastball that painted the outside corner, induced Tyler Freeman to ground out to second, and then struck out Mickey Moniak swinging on another triple-digit fastball.

Chandler needed just seven pitches to retire the Rockies in order in the seventh, helped a bit by a sliding catch by centerfielder Jack Suwinski. Colorado’s Braxton Fulford led off the eighth by getting hit by a pitch, but Chandler induced Yanquiel Fernandez to hit into a double play and exacted a bit of revenge on Arcia by striking him out on a changeup well out of the zone.

Pittsburgh manager Don Kelly sent Chandler back out for the ninth. After a lead-off single by Ritter, Chandler retired the next three batters to close out the game.

The Pirates plan to use Chandler in a relief role for now as a way of creating what Kelly called an “on ramp” to the majors, a strategy the club used earlier this season after calling up Ashcraft.

Chandler will have an opportunity to start at some point, though the club is keeping a careful eye on his workload. He threw 100 innings in the minors this season, not that far away from the 119⅔ innings he pitched last year while splitting time between Double-A and Triple-A.

A third-round pick in the 2021 draft, Chandler was a two-way player earlier in his minor league career before moving to pitching full time in 2023.

Chandler joins a pitching staff led by 23-year-old reigning NL Rookie of the Year and Cy Young contender Paul Skenes.

While Skenes’ debut in May 2024 was treated as a major event in Pittsburgh, Chandler made a decidedly quieter entrance. He eschewed any pregame interviews and was running in the outfield at PNC Park more than five hours before the first pitch.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.