Roy Reuben (Bubba) Chandler...Was ranked by Baseball America as the 20th-best player (21st by MLB Pipeline) in the 2021 draft...Is a 2021 graduate of North Oconee High School in Bogart, Ga., where he went 8-1 with a 1.25 ERA and 96 strikeouts in 44.2 innings while setting a school record in the playoffs with a 17-strikeout performance during his senior year; also hit .411 with 12 doubles, eight home runs, 35 RBI and 41 runs scored while playing shortstop...Struck out 16 batters in seven innings during an abbreviated 2020 season while also hitting .435...Was a Collegiate Baseball first-team All-American selection as a multi-position athlete in 2021...Was named a Georgia 4-A all-state first-team selection in baseball during his senior season...Was the 2021 Region 8-AAAA Player of the Year in baseball...Played quarterback for three seasons at North Oconee, where he passed for 1,842 yards and 18 touchdowns while also rushing 79 times for 548 yards and six touchdowns as a senior...Was rated by Perfect Game as the 13th-best player in the class of 2021, the third-best player in the state of Georgia and the fourth-best right-handed pitcher among the class of 2021 (No. 1 in the state of Georgia among right-handed pitchers for the class of 2021)...Was committed to play both football and baseball at Clemson University prior to signing with the Pirates...Was signed by Pirates scout Cam Murphy.
2025
Entered the season rated by Baseball America as the No. 7 prospect in all of baseball...Pitched in three spring games as a non-roster invitee...Struck out four batters while pitching 2.0 perfect innings as the starter in the Spring Breakout Game on 3/14 at Philadelphia...Began the season at Indianapolis, where he struck out 12 batters over 6.2 combined scoreless innings in his first two starts on 4/3 (G1) vs. Iowa and 4/8 at Louisville...Was named the International League’s Pitcher of the Month for April after posting a 1.33 ERA (20.1 IP/3 ER), 27 strikeouts, a .106 batting average against (7-for-66) and a 0.64 WHIP in five starts (became the first Indians pitcher to win a monthly award since Zach Duke in May 2005)...Struck out a season-high nine batters while allowing one run in 5.0 innings on 5/1 at Omaha...Had a 2.54 ERA (28.1 IP/8 ER) and 42 strikeouts in six May starts... Had an 8.53 ERA (12.2 IP/13BR/12 ER) in five June starts...Struck out 13 batters over 12.0 combined scoreless innings in starts on 7/4 vs. Louisville and 7/10 vs. Gwinnett...Went 1-4 with a 7.43 ERA (26.2 IP/22 ER) in his final six Triple-A starts...Led the International League in strikeouts and games started from 4/3 (season debut) through 8/16 (final start)...Was selected by Pittsburgh on 8/22 and made his Major League debut that night vs. Colorado, securing a save with 4.0 scoreless innings...Was rated by both MLB Pipeline (No. 7) and Baseball America (No. 15) as a top-15 prospect in baseball at the time of his promotion...Earned his first Major League win with 4.0 scoreless innings of relief on 8/27 at St. Louis...Became one of five Major League pitchers since saves became an official statistic in 1969 to earn both a win and a save in his first two outings, joining Rick Waits (1973 with Texas, 1975 with Cleveland), Boston’s Bob Stanley (1977), New York (NL)’s Mardie Cornejo (1978) and Baltimore’s Mickey Weston (1989)...Also became one of four Major League relievers in the Modern Era (since 1901) to begin his career with two outings of at least 4.0 scoreless innings, joining Boston (AL)’s Hugh Bedient (1912), St. Louis’ Von McDaniel (1957) and Detroit’s Eric King (1986)...Earned his second win with 4.0 innings of relief on 9/2 vs. Los Angeles (NL)...Became one of three Major League pitchers since 1969 to earn two wins and a save in his first three games, along with Minnesota’s Tom Johnson (1974) and Cincinnati’s Hector Carrasco (1994)... Was also one of two Pirates relievers since at least 1900 to pitch at least 4.0 innings in each of his first three outings, along with Carmen Hill in 1915 (the last Major League pitcher to do that was Kansas City’s Atlee Hammaker in 1981)...Made his first start on 9/7 vs. Milwaukee, allowing nine runs in 2.2 innings while losing a 10-2 decision...Allowed one run in 6.0 innings on 9/13 at Washington (had a perfect game through 5.0 innings before Dylan Crews led off the sixth inning with a single)...Struck out six batters and allowed just one hit and one hit by pitch in 5.0 scoreless innings in a 2-0 win on 9/20 vs. the Athletics (he and Braxton Ashcraft became the first pair of Pirates pitchers since at least 1901 to each have six strikeouts and zero walks in a game)...Made his final start of the season on 9/27 at Atlanta, striking out six batters and allowing one run over 5.2 innings in a 3-1 win...Became the first Pirates pitcher in the Modern Era (since 1901) to make three straight starts with one or zero runs allowed, zero walks issued and at least six strikeouts...Also joined Milwaukee’s Corbin Burnes (four) in 2021, Arizona’s Zac Gallen (three) in 2023 and Detroit’s Tarik Skubal (three) in 2025 as the only Major League pitchers in the Modern Era to make three straight starts with four or fewer hits allowed, one or zero runs allowed, zero walks issued and at least six strikeouts...Went 2-1 with a 5.12 ERA (19.1 IP/11 ER) in four starts and 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA (12.0 IP/3 ER) over his three relief appearances...Was recognized as the organization’s Bob Friend Pitcher of the Year during Young Bucs Awards Week.
2024
Entered the season ranked 59th among Baseball America’s top 100 prospects…Went 10-7 with a 3.08 ERA (119.2 IP/41 ER) and 148 strikeouts in 26 total games (23 starts) between Altoona and Indianapolis...Represented the Pirates organization at the All-Star Futures Game while also being tabbed as the organization’s Minor League player of the year by Baseball America...Was a non-roster invitee during Spring Training...Began season with Altoona and was the Opening Day starter on 4/5 vs. Akron (3.1 IP/2 ER - no-decision)…Tossed four hitless innings and struck out six batters on 4/13 vs. Harrisburg...Picked up his first win on 4/18 at Bowie (6 IP/2 ER)…Started and faced only seven batters on 5/17 at Akron; he walked five, throwing 10 of his 33 pitches for strikes, and recording two outs while being charged with five runs...Was placed on the 7-day injured list on 5/19 (retro to 5/18) with right forearm tightness...Was reinstated on 5/29 and suffered his fourth loss that night vs. Portland (4.0 IP/2 ER)…Gave up one unearned run in five innings and lost a 1-0 decision on 6/4 at Richmond...Allowed two unearned runs in three innings of relief and picked up the win on 6/9 at Richmond...Had 10 strikeouts while tossing seven scoreless innings on 6/21 at Bowie...Was named the Eastern League Pitcher-of-the-Week for the week of 6/17-23...Struck out a career-high 11 batters and allowed two runs in 6.2 IP while winning his fourth decision on 6/27 vs. Akron...Finished the month of June tied for the second-most strikeouts (35) in the Eastern League while recording a 2.49 ERA, which ranked seventh in the league...Had consecutive 10-strikeout games on 6/21 at Bowie and 6/27 vs Akron, which marked the third time in team history that a Curve pitcher struck out 10 or more batters in back-to-back outings (also Tyler Glasnow in 2015 and Roansy Contreras in 2021)…Pitched 7.2 scoreless innings while winning his fifth game on 7/3 at Harrisburg...Pitched two perfect innings in his start on 7/9 vs. Bowie...Represented the Pirates at the 25th annual MLB Futures Game in Arlington, Texas, on 7/13; finished off a 6-1 victory for the National League with a scoreless seventh inning...Gave up one run in seven innings while winning his sixth decision in his final Double-A start on 8/2 vs. Richmond...Made his Triple-A debut on 8/9 at Nashville and pitched seven scoreless innings for the win...Was named the International League’s Pitcher-of-the-Week for the week of 8/5-11...Tossed six scoreless innings and tied career high with 11 strikeouts in his second start on 8/16 vs. St. Paul (no-decision)…Gave up one hit and struck out 10 batters in six scoreless innings while winning his fourth game on 9/10 vs. Rochester (began the game with five perfect innings)…Made his final start on 9/17 at St. Paul and gave up two runs and struck out eight batters in 5.1 innings (no-decision).
2023
Worked exclusively as a pitcher after beginning his professional career as a two-way player… Ranked third among all Pirates Minor Leaguers in strikeouts (128) while going a combined 10-4 with a 4.54 ERA (111.0ip/56er) in 25 starts between High-A Greensboro and Double-A Altoona...Entered the season rated by Baseball America as the “Best Athlete” and as having the “Best Fastball” in Pittsburgh’s minor league system…Began the year with Greensboro…Ranked second in the South Atlantic League in wins (nine), tied for sixth in strikeouts (120) and fifth in batting average against (.265)…Recorded a 1.85 ERA in his final eight starts with Greensboro, which was the second-lowest ERA among all qualified pitchers at the High-A level between 7/18 and 9/2…Retired 13 straight batters to begin his Double-A career, allowing only a bloop single in his Double-A debut on 9/8 vs. Harrisburg…Was one of 13 pitchers to reach Double-A at age 20-or-younger.
