The National League won the 2024 MLB Future’s Game by a score of 6-1, getting help from Pirates top prospects Bubba Chandler and Termarr Johnson.
Johnson, the number two prospect in the system, went 1-for-2 with a run. Johnson grounded out in the first, swinging at a first pitch sinker that was up and on the outer corner of the strike zone. He led off the fourth inning by swinging at a 96.8 MPH sinker up and in, knocking it for an opposite field hit off Noah Schultz. The White Sox lefty is the number eight prospect in the game, according to Baseball America, and the second best pitching prospect behind Jackson Jobe. Johnson later scored, giving the NL the eventual winning run.
With the score 6-1, Chandler came on to pitch the seventh inning and close out the game. His first batter was Marcelo Mayer, who was taken at the top of the 2021 draft that saw Chandler go in the third round. Had the Pirates drafted Mayer over Henry Davis, they might not have been able to draft Chandler as an over-slot pick in the third. Chandler got Mayer to ground out on a 2-1 fastball at the bottom of the zone, hitting 97.4 MPH.
Chandler gave up a double to Kyle Teel on a good piece of hitting. Facing a 1-2 count, after a swinging strike against the best changeup from Chandler all day, Teel swung at a 98.4 MPH fastball at the top of the zone, sending a perfectly placed roller down the third base line.
Chandler recovered by striking out Gavin Cross with an 87.2 MPH slider that had a lot of tilt, dropping below the bottom of the zone. The pitch came after Chandler got ahead with two 97 MPH fastballs. The final out came on a 98 MPH fastball inside, which was hit for a 6-3 groundout up the middle on a nice play by Cooper Pratt.
In total, Chandler threw 14 pitches, with nine strikes. He had three whiffs, with one each on the fastball, changeup, and slider. The fastbal sat 97-98 MPH on every pitch, with the slider at 86-87, and the changeup at 88-90. The changeup has been a focus for Chandler this year. He threw four, missing outside with three of them, but getting a nice swing and miss on his best offering.
Termarr Johnson will represent the Pirates in the Futures Skills Showcase, which will air on taped delay at 10:00 AM Sunday morning on MLB Network, MLB.TV, and MLB.com.
