Pirates promoting top prospect Chandler for bullpen role

The Pittsburgh Pirates will select the contract of Bubba Chandler on Friday to initially have the highly touted right-hander pitch out of the bullpen, manager Don Kelly confirmed Wednesday.

Chandler is the top pitching prospect in all of baseball and No. 7 overall, according to MLB Pipeline.

"Really excited about bringing Bubba up," Kelly told the media following a 2-1 win over the Toronto Blue Jays, according to Kevin Gorman of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. "He's going to be in a bulk role. ... He's going to have an opportunity to earn starts like all of our guys have."

Chandler owns a 4.05 ERA with 10.9 K/9 over 100 innings (24 starts) in Triple-A this campaign. He was selected in the third round of the 2021 draft.

Pittsburgh could deploy a 2026 rotation that includes NL Cy Young favorite Paul Skenes, Mitch Keller, Jared Jones, and Chandler.