Pittsburgh Pirates Minor League Pitcher of the Year: Bubba Chandler

Chandler emerged as one of the top pitching prospects in all of baseball

Photo Credit: Ryan Palencer

With the minor league season completely over after Indianapolis wrapped up its schedule, we will hand out some awards for 2024. Today will be Pitcher of the Year.

WTM, Nola, and I voted a top three for each hitter, pitcher, and breakout player of the year. After the winner, each WTM and Nola did a brief write-up on who they had as their top selection.

Last year’s ‘honor’ went to Anthony Solometo.

Winner: Bubba Chandler

This was a unanimous decision among the staff, as Chandler elevated himself to not only the top prospect in the Pirates system but also one of the best pitching prospects in baseball.

It didn’t always look like he was heading down this path. He had a brief IL stint in May after lasting just two-thirds of an inning against Akron, and the numbers were looking rough at the time (5.84 ERA, 24.2 IP, 16 ER, 18 BB, 30 K, 4.31 FIP).

Once he returned from the injured list, Chandler took his game to another level (2.37 ERA, 2.78 FIP, 95 IP, 23 BB, 118 K). He posted four double-digit strikeout games, carried no-hitter/perfect games deep into multiple starts, and found a level of consistency with throwing his pitches in the strike zone.

There was no shortage of pitching options to choose from, which says something that Chandler took a clean sweep here.

Others receiving votes: Thomas Harrington, Carlson Reed

WTM: Bubba Chandler

I almost picked Carlson Reed here, but I couldn’t get around the fact that Chandler is just a few days older than Reed and had an outstanding year in AA and AAA, while Reed did the same in Class A.  Chandler had some issues with command in April and May, but from that point on he dominated much of the time in a way that no other pitcher in the organization is capable of doing other than a certain guy who’s in the majors. 

In the season’s last four months, across two levels, Chandler fanned 34% of the hitters he faced.  In August and September, opponents managed just a puny OPS against him of .479 and .367, respectively, and all but one of his seven games those months were in AAA.  And the list goes on — 3.07 ERA (1.59 in AAA), 0.99 WHIP, 3.59 K/BB, and so on.  Spring training should be fun.

NolaJeffy: Bubba Chandler

What is there to say that hasn’t already been said about Bubba Chandler
yet? He kicked off 2024 in a similar fashion to 2023, where one could only
wonder if maybe he was hitting a speed bump in his development. Alas,
again in a similar fashion to 2023, he found a whole other gear and went
on a rampage against opposing hitters. He got a bump to Triple-A, and
finished with a 1.83 ERA in 39.1 IP with the Indianapolis Indians.

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