Bubba Chandler Facing Big Pitching Development Year (+)
In the 2021 MLB Draft, the Pittsburgh Pirates acquired some impressive and intriguing prospects. One of those prospects has to be Bubba Chandler.
Chandler, a 20-year-old Lawrenceville, Georgia native, was drafted by the Pirates in the third round of the ‘21 draft.
Most thought Chandler would be a bit too pricey to draft, seeing as he had a scholarship in hand to play football at Clemson University. Thanks to going a tad under slot with Henry Davis, the Pirates were able to afford Chandler’s lofty price tag at $3 million. The slot value at Chandler’s spot was around $870,700.
One of the more interesting things about Chandler is his two-way status. There have been times when he has shown some pop in his bat, but we are here to discuss the pitching side of things with Mr. Chandler.
In 2022, Chandler showed why he was highly touted.
The basic numbers might not have shown it, but his fastball had flashes of an elite pitch. It’s probably safe to say that Chandler’s fastball is one of the best in the Pirates system, as we speak.
Thankfully, I was able to get in contact with Full Count Baseball, located in Hoschton, Georgia, where Chandler goes in the off-season.
From there, I was able to talk with the director of player development, Brian Holmes, and the head of player development Eric Alonzo.
We initially started off by discussing Chandler’s repertoire and the development of his secondary stuff, as well as his fastball.
“His fastball is very, very good,” said Holmes. “That fastball is something that will always be a weapon of his. The main thing with his other stuff is just trying to get his movement and motion as consistent as possible. He’s throwing two different breaking balls with a slider and a curveball, and we’ve been trying to give him consistent feedback so he can start to separate them; they’ll have a tendency to blend together sometimes. So we’re trying to get him to the point where there are two distinct pitches all of the time.”
Holmes continued to discuss Chandler’s breaking stuff and stated that he thinks his slider is a little ahead of the curveball at this point and time.
Holmes then went into detail on the work they have put in to help separate Chandler’s slider from his curveball.
“His slider has been really consistent; I know the Pirates had him slightly change his grip. Most of the work has been trying to get a more consistent topspin on his curveball so it has more depth to it. We use the Edgetronic camera a lot to show him what his hand is actually doing when he’s letting go of the ball. The combo of all those things just increases his feel for the pitch.”
In my opinion, what separates a good pitcher from a great pitcher, is a good changeup. For some pitchers, it can be that one dragon they can never slay, but the ones that develop one can become a dominant force. With Chandler, it would pair great with his four-seam.
“He’ll flash a good changeup; the profile looks good on it, and I think it has the potential to be good in the future,” said Holmes. “He’s still pretty early in the changeup process. You’re talking about a kid that’s a year and a half removed from high school, and he didn’t really need a changeup to dominate. It’s just all about consistency with him, and that will come with time and experience in pro ball.”
The question everyone, including myself, is asking about Chandler is what kind of a jump he will make from ’22 to 2023. It seems fairly likely he will begin the year in High-A Greensboro or at least get there fairly quickly, so what kind of a jump can we expect?
“I think with someone as talented as him, it’s not necessarily about making a jump; it’s more about teaching him how to be a professional and have a good routine,” said Holmes. “Bubba has a lot of talent naturally, so it’s about getting him to understand the amount of consistency he needs to have in his movement. It’s more about refining what he’s doing than making any changes.”
From what I’ve been told by Mr. Holmes and Alonzo, Chandler is coming into this season extremely confident. It’s going to be interesting to see how refined he is once the season get’s going. If Chandler can refine his pitches and gain consistency in hitting his spots, I think the Pirates have a dangerous weapon on their hands.
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