Around the Curve | Bubba Chandler Rides Big Fastball To Success With Curve

Right-hander Bubba Chandler showcased his electric stuff in his lone outing with Altoona last season with a brilliant 5-inning outing during the final homestand of the season. But, with a major league spring training under his belt and a full month of play in a Curve uniform, Chandler is still adjusting to the challenges that Double-A hitters pose to him.

“Mistakes cost here,” Chandler said prior to Altoona’s doubleheader in Harrisburg last week. “The name of the game is to minimize failures and mistakes. It happened in my last start; I threw the worst slider of my life to a guy that I know well and that’s just a pitch I can’t make.”

Considering how Chandler has thrown the ball to begin the season, he clearly holds himself to a high standard of excellence. He allowed all of one run, a solo homer to Brady House, in 4.1 innings in his start on Tuesday, May 1 at Harrisburg.

And how could he not? Roy Ruben “Bubba” Chandler was one of the top amateur arms in the 2021 draft and was slated to head to play football and baseball for the Clemson Tigers. When the Pirates drafted Henry Davis first overall in 2021, they did so with the idea that his under-slot bonus could help the Pirates accumulate additional high-level talent into a system that desperately needed it. Chandler and Curve lefty Anthony Solometo were two of the early-round targets that the Pirates signed with the leftover bonus money, buying Chandler out of his commitment to Clemson and Solometo’s commitment to play baseball at North Carolina.

“We’re best friends. It’s been cool, they sat me and him down when we got drafted and told us that we’d kind of hold each other’s hand all the way up. And it’s been great, he’s one of my best friends, he’s a great competitor. We’ve shared 3 clubhouses together, roommates each of the last 3 years at various affiliates. Hopefully we can play our whole career together, but he’s going to be great. He’s an animal,” Chandler relayed about his fellow starter.

The reason for optimism with Bubba Chandler is the promise that he holds in his right arm. Sporting a fastball that regularly works in the mid-to-high 90’s, a pair of devastating breaking pitches and a change-up that he feels renewed confidence in this season gives the Pirates reason to dream on him working next to Paul Skenes, Jared Jones and Mitch Keller at the top of a rotation for Pittsburgh.

“Coming out of spring, I felt really confident in all my off-speed offerings,” Chandler reflected. “But once I got into the season, the fastball is playing well against hitters here and I don’t have to use my breaking stuff as often.”

And from a distance that has been an obvious key to Chandler’s success. Hitters simply do not catch up to his upper-90’s heat when it comes in letter-high to the batter.

The fastball has long been Chandler’s most dominant pitch, but his future wasn’t always on the diamond. A star quarterback at North Oconee high school in Georgia, Chandler still keeps a close eye on college football in his spare time. These days, he lives in Athens, Georgia, an epicenter of the college football world.

“Sure, I still go to games and watch Clemson closely,” Chandler said. “I will say I still study the game a little bit in the off-season. Like when I go to Clemson games now, I kind of analyze what the defense is running and I think about how I would attack it, just because that’s how most quarterbacks that could’ve played at a high-level think that way. Not that different from someone with a lot of baseball experience will just watch a game, like if Joe Torre is watching a game from the stands, he’s probably thinking about what decisions he would make as a manager and I kind of do that same thing. I still have a good relationship with football, but I have so many friends that still play. Coach [Dabo] Sweeney is still a mentor in my life.”

And some of them now play for his “favorite” NFL team.

“Few of my buddies just got drafted, two of them went to the Eagles [Will Shipley and Jeremiah Trotter Jr.] and I’m a fan of Philly now. I’ve never really been a big NFL fan, but in 2023 when I was with Owen Kellington (who roots for the New York Giants) and Anthony Solometo (who roots for the Eagles) and they’re favorite teams were playing in week one and I decided that whoever won that game, I’d be a fan of that team. The Eagles won the game and I bought a Jalen Hurts jersey. And now that Trot and Shipley are there, so I’m going to be a little bigger fan now.”

**This story was printed in Volume 25 Issue 3 of the Curve Chronicle for the May 7-12 homestand.**