Even before he emerged from the bullpen Friday, the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Bubba Chandler was considered the top pitching prospect in baseball.
And the hard-throwing 22-year-old confirmed those credentials in his major league debut, becoming the first pitcher to throw four scoreless innings and record a save in his debut since saves became an officially recognized statistic in 1969, according to AP.
He allowed just two hits and struck out three in those four innings, needing 40 pitches to get the 12 outs and clinch a 9-0 win for the Pirates against the Colorado Rockies.
Although he gave up a double to the first batter he faced, Orlando Arcia, he rallied and struck out Ryan Ritter and Mickey Moniak, while Tyler Freeman ground out, stranding Arcia.
Chandler’s decisive pitches to Ritter and Moniak clocked in at 99.9 mph and 100.4 mph, respectively – the fastest pitches for strikeouts that any Pirate has thrown this year.
“Welcome to the show, huh,” Chandler said afterward, recalling Arcia’s double. “Thought I made a good pitch but he hit it pretty hard. Kind of a scare, you don’t want to give up a homer on your first at-bat but it was pretty sweet. After that at-bat, my emotions kind of slowed down and it was great.”
Despite being just 22 years old, Chandler’s impressive performances at Triple-A Indianapolis made him “mad” that he hadn’t been called up already.
“In the end, I’m here in the big leagues,” he told reporters afterward, per MLB. “There’s not a lot of 22-year-old kids that get to do this. I’m grateful. I was mad, yeah, whatever. But at the same time I didn’t need to take care of what I needed to take care of, so that falls back on me. Now I’m here. Don’t care.”
“Stress, I guess stress is a big thing. I’ve never really been a stressed-out guy, but I have been the past couple months just trying to get here.”
Chandler’s emergence further strengthens the Pirates’ pitching staff, which also includes last year’s NL Rookie of the Year Paul Skenes.
Elsewhere, the San Diego Padres defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers 2-1 to tie with their rivals at the top of the NL West. Yu Darvish allowed just one hit across six innings and combined with three relievers to dominate the Dodgers.
Meanwhile, the Boston Red Sox took a 1-0 victory against the New York Yankees behind Brayan Bello’s seven scoreless innings, securing the season series over their rivals.
