Coming into a three-game series north of the border in Toronto, Bubba Chandler faced one of the biggest starts in his young major league career.
The right-hander had hit a definite rough patch. After a steady first four outings in 2026, Chandler had limped his way through his last five starts, posting a 6.95 ERA (17 earned runs in 22 innings), allowing five home runs, walking 18 batters, and being charged with four losses.
That stretch inflated his season ERA up to 5.14, to go along with a 1.524 WHIP and 1.16 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Subpar numbers, as well as Jared Jones nearing a return from his rehab assignment following UCL surgery and questions about who shifts to the bullpen when he returns, Chandler desperately needed to have a good outing.
The former third-round pick back in 2021 responded with a career-high 11 strikeouts through five innings, holding the Blue Jays to just two hits and three walks in arguably his best start of the season.
Unfortunately for Chandler, he was still on the hook for an eventual 6-2 loss to open the series. But unlike many of his past losses, this one really wasn’t the fault of the pitcher.
In the bottom of the third, his battery mate in Endy Rodríguez was called for catcher interference, issuing a free pass to George Springer to start the frame. Chandler did then allow a line drive single to Vladimir Guerrero Jr to put runners on the corners, but had his defense not let him down, he likely gets out of this third inning way less scathed.
After Daulton Varsho grounded down the first base side, Spencer Horwitz tried to hold the runner. Having caught Springer halfway between third and home, Horwitz marched towards the infield and try to pin down the runner for the out. But he launched the ball well over the head of Nick Gonzales at third, which allowed not only Springer to go home, but the other runners to advance.
Worst of all, Horwitz didn’t take the few steps behind him to tag first base, leaving Toronto with no outs after the ordeal.
The error vastly prolonged Chandler’s inning, and a 30+ pitch inning ran up his pitch count way sooner than the Pirates would have hoped.
But to Chandler’s credit, he didn’t let things spiral out of control even after his defense behind him had let him down.
Aside from that nightmare third inning, he paced him rather well and looked more confident in his pitches. He secured an amazing 22 whiffs on 99 total pitches. His three walks still isn’t ideal, but it’s fewer free passes than he’s handed out in three of his last four starts.
Besides, if he starts striking out batters the way he did on Friday night, you can quickly learn to live with a few walks here and there.
There was so much to like from Chandler’s outing, and this is almost exactly the type of bounce back performance the Pirates wanted to see out of him.
For the Georgia native, it’s unlucky to see an 11 K performance and five innings of one-earned run ball still result in a loss. As the Sportsnet Pittsburgh broadcast pointed out, that’s a part of the maturity process for the 23-year-old starter, learning how to handle a subpar defensive performance behind him and pitching around those deficiencies.
Friday was a great showcase in how Chandler can do that. In a normal game, he probably walks away with no decision, helping that record to look a tad better. But even with the disappointing end result, you hope this is the kind of start that he can build off of, and maybe the start that that helps Chandler turn his season around.
Fifth Avenue Sports 
Leave a comment