Top prospect Bubba Chandler headlines Pirates' roster for Spring Breakout against Phillies
Pitcher Bubba Chandler headlines the roster of Pittsburgh Pirates prospects to play against Philadelphia Phillies prospects in the Spring Breakout on March 14 at BayCare Ballpark in Clearwater, Fla.
The 22-year-old Chandler is ranked the Pirates’ No. 1 prospect and No. 15 overall by MLB Pipeline. The 6-foot-3, 218-pound right-hander went 4-0 with a 1.83 ERA, 1.04 WHIP and 54 strikeouts in 39 1/3 innings over seven starts at Triple-A Indianapolis last season.
The Pirates roster features 18 of their top 30 prospects as ranked by MLB Pipeline, including former first-round picks in shortstop/center fielder Konnor Griffin (No. 2) and middle infielder Termarr Johnson (No. 4) as well as left-hander Hunter Barco (No. 7), shortstop Wyatt Sanford (No. 8) and right-hander Zander Mueth (No. 10).
The @Pirates roster for the 2025 Spring Breakout ???? pic.twitter.com/pqHMItWvkW
— Young Bucs (@YoungBucsPIT) March 6, 2025
Four of the Pirates’ top-10 prospects won’t participate. No. 3 Thomas Harrington, No. 5 Nick Yorke and No. 6 Braxton Ashcraft are battling for spots on the Opening Day roster.
This marks the second Spring Breakout. Barco tossed two scoreless innings in the 3-1 win over the Baltimore Orioles in the inaugural event last March at LECOM Park.
The Phillies won’t have their No. 1 prospect, as right-handed pitcher Andrew Painter is returning from Tommy John surgery, but will have four of their top five prospects: shortstop Aidan Miller, center fielder Justin Crawford, catcher Eduardo Tait and righty Moises Chace.
Kevin Gorman is a TribLive reporter covering the Pirates. A Baldwin native and Penn State graduate, he joined the Trib in 1999 and has covered high school sports, Pitt football and basketball and was a sports columnist for 10 years. He can be reached at kgorman@triblive.com.
Remove the ads from your TribLIVE reading experience but still support the journalists who create the content with TribLIVE Ad-Free.