Bubba Chandler keeps flashing the kind of arm that made him such a buzzworthy pitching prospect, and on Tuesday he took that reputation up another notch.
Against the Chicago White Sox, Chandler’s four-seam fastball racked up 16 whiffs, a ridiculous number that put him in a very small club. Per Alex Stumpf, the only other pitchers to get at least 16 whiffs with a four-seamer in a game this season are Jacob Misiorowski, Cole Ragans and Cam Schlittler.
That’s the kind of company that turns heads. Even more telling was how Chandler did it: half the swings he got on the pitch ended in misses. His 50% whiff rate on the fastball was the best by any pitcher in a game this season among those who generated at least 10 whiffs with a four-seamer.
Bubba Chandler, 99mph ⛽️
7th K thru 4 pic.twitter.com/HMKQNNHyA8
- Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) September 9, 2026
That’s exactly the sort of development the Pirates have been waiting for. Chandler has always had the arm strength, but pure velocity alone doesn’t make a frontline starter. The real question has been whether he could make that heat play against big-league hitters in a way that consistently misses bats.
Right now, the answer is looking like yes.
Since Aug. 3, Chandler has made seven starts and posted a 3.38 ERA with 36 strikeouts over 37 1/3 innings. He’s also kept hitters from doing much damage when they do connect, allowing five hits or fewer in every one of those seven outings.
It hasn’t been spotless. His command and efficiency have had their rough patches, and like most young power pitchers, he’s still working through the adjustments that come when major-league hitters start figuring out his plan. But when the stuff is this loud, a lot of those flaws can get covered up.
Sixteen whiffs on one pitch is more than a quirky number. It’s a sign that Chandler now has a real major-league weapon, one that can overwhelm hitters even when they know what’s coming.
The Pirates have loaded up on young arms for years. At some point, that collection has to turn into real production at the big-league level. Chandler’s recent stretch suggests that maybe, finally, it is.
And when his four-seam fastball is missing bats at a rate nobody else has matched this season, it gets a lot easier to picture just how high his ceiling really is.
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