TORONTO -- Things have been anything but smooth sailing for Bubba Chandler to begin 2026. But on Friday night at Rogers Centre, the Pirates right-hander took a step forward.
Chandler needed just four innings to set a career high in strikeouts, besting his previous total of seven from a mid-September start in 2025. And when his night officially came to an end after the fifth, he left the mound with 11 total punchouts and 22 whiffs -- also a career best -- in a 6-2 loss to the Blue Jays.
“I thought that was one of the best, if not the best start he’s had,” manager Don Kelly said postgame. “To have that [rough third] inning, we didn’t play really good defense. Had the catcher’s interference and then the error, it could have completely gotten off the rails. And for him to settle down, get as many strikeouts and whiffs as he had, I thought he did a really good job.”
Coming off a start against the Phillies in which the 23-year-old surrendered four earned runs in three innings and said he pitched “soft” afterwards, there was nothing soft about his response in Toronto.
Chandler dominated with his fastball in the outing, averaging 99.3 mph on 55 heaters and generating 10 whiffs with the offering while relentlessly attacking the Blue Jays’ lineup.
But the fastball wasn’t the only pitch Chandler had working. He earned multiple strikeouts with each of his changeup, slider, and curveball, catching Toronto off balance while trying to keep up with his high-90s heat.
“I think each outing has gotten better,” Chandler said. “It’s learning, but I think it’s my job to go out there and compose myself, and go out there and get through a lineup three, four times.”
The 22 whiffs he generated tied for the second-most by a Pirates starter through the first five innings of a game in the pitch-tracking era (since 2008). Francisco Liriano recorded 24 on July 23, 2015, vs. the Nationals.
“We’ve seen the elite stuff,” Kelly said of Chandler pregame. “The last start last year in Atlanta stands out to me, when he worked into the seventh inning and dominated a really good lineup.
“He’s got the stuff to do that, just allowing himself to go out there and trust it, believe it, and let it play in the zone.”
It’s that second part and some sloppy defense behind him that prevented Chandler from working as deep into the game as he could have.
Only two Blue Jays managed to record hits while Chandler was on the mound, but the 6-foot-3 righty issued three free passes on the night and saw Pittsburgh commit three errors between the second and third innings.
The defensive miscues proved particularly costly in the third.
After George Springer reached on a two-strike catcher’s interference call to lead off the frame, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. moved him to third with a single into center field. Daulton Varsho then grounded to drawn-in first baseman Spencer Horwitz, who caught Springer too far off the bag and looked to get the out at third -- but sent his throw down the line, allowing the run to score.
Even though Chandler bore down to strike out the next batter, a 114.8 mph double off the bat of Yohendrick Piñango made the Pirates pay, bringing home both Guerrero Jr. and Varsho.
“I think I did a lot of good things,” Chandler said. “Executed a lot of pitches, but didn’t execute a lot of pitches. And those pitches I didn’t execute got hit. It’s going to happen, but minimizing stuff is how pitchers get deep into games and do what we do.
“I think it was a good learning step of what we need to feel and what we need to do when big-time situations come up.”
While Chandler’s pure stuff was on display Friday, it was perhaps a shift in mentality that allowed him to respond to the third-inning adversity and keep the Blue Jays from tacking on any more runs.
After Piñango’s double, Chandler went on to punch out six of the next nine batters he faced on his way to the finish line.
“The thing that was most encouraging to me was just his composure out there today,” Kelly said. “The presence on the mound. The way he was able to stay in attack mode and work through those things, even if he had a couple walks early. But he stayed within himself and continued to fire away in the strike zone.”