PITTSBURGH – The quality of “stuff” has never been an issue for 23-year-old Bubba Chandler. It’s the free passes that have plagued him the most through his first two starts of the season.
Despite being the hardest-throwing starting pitcher in the league, as well as ranking highly in strikeouts (80th percentile) and whiff percentage (76th percentile), per Baseball Savant, Chandler is tied for the MLB lead in bases on balls (10). The right-hander walked four in Pittsburgh’s 5-0 loss to the Padres on Monday night at PNC Park, ending the team’s five-game winning streak.
“Pretty bad, it’s pisspoor,” Chandler said. “Hits are fine, it's stuff that’s gonna happen, but not competing in the zone is just pathetic and it’s eating at me, and I’m going to fix it and clean it up.
“I’ve got five more days before I throw again. It won't happen again. Very pissed off. I’m just setting our team up for failure right now with the guys having to come in out of the ‘pen a lot sooner than they should. That stuff has gotta get cleaned up.”
His outing got off to a hot start, hitting 100 mph on the radar gun five times in the first inning, including three in the first at-bat of the game ending in an emphatic strikeout of Padres outfielder Ramón Laureano. The first inning turned out to be his only clean frame of the game, however, as he had to labor to get through a 23-pitch second inning.
Chandler allowed a run in the fourth and was charged for two more in the fifth inning. He departed after outfielder Bryan Reynolds miscalculated a fly ball hit to left field that bounced untouched on the warning track, and up into the crowd for a ground-rule double, scoring San Diego’s second run of the game. His final line charged him for five hits and four walks while striking out four.
His 24-pitch fourth inning drew his final pitch count up to 83 pitches, just 48 for strikes.
I’m blessed and fortunate to have a good body and a good arm,” Chandler said. “I should throw six, seven, eight innings every single time I go out there and not doing that is just pissing me off. It will clean up, I’ll get better.”
Chandler didn't allow a hit in 4 1/3 innings in his previous start against Cincinnati, but six walks held him back from a much deeper, possibly special, outing.
“Like I said, it’s a long year,” he said. “You do something two, three times in a row, it becomes a streak. You don't want that. If you have four good outings in a row, yeah, it’s great. I’ve had two bad outings, and it can't continue to rollover. A walk is fine, two walks are OK. It’s insanity trying to do the same thing over and expect a different result. That’s what I’m doing right now.”
Still, the outing wasn't without its bright spots. Along with throwing 13 pitches at 100 mph or faster, Chandler made Padres catcher Freddy Fermin look silly with a strikeout on a 94 mph changeup that had 19 inches of horizontal, arm-side break.
“Again, some really good stuff coming out, and different pitches,” Pirates manager Don Kelly said. “A little erratic there, something we’ll continue to work on with the walks and getting it in the zone, but he's got elite stuff, [he’s] a fierce competitor, threw some really good changeups, too. It’s going to be a big weapon for him moving forward.”
The organization's former top prospect has shown an ability to command his three pitches -- a four-seamer, changeup and slider -- at times as a big leaguer. He finished the 2025 season on a tear, allowing just two earned runs and striking out 19 while not walking anybody over 16 2/3 innings in his final three starts. His final Spring Training start was also strong, firing five innings of one-run ball with eight strikeouts to just one walk.
“I think for Bubba, just continuing to work on [his control] in his bullpens,” Kelly said. “As we see with Bubba, he’s got that fierce competitiveness in him. Finding a way to reign in his emotions, if you will, when [he’s] out there, and I have no doubt that he will.”