Bubba Chandler and Termarr Johnson are heading to MLB’s Future’s Game on July 13th. The top two prospects in the Pittsburgh Pirates system will get a chance to play with the best prospects in the National League, and against the best prospects in the American League.
Chandler was drafted by the Pirates in the third round of the 2021 draft, and given a $3 million bonus to sign out of high school. He’s currently pitching in Double-A Altoona in his age-21 season, with a 4.17 ERA in 54 innings. He’s hit another gear lately, with a 2.76 ERA in 29.1 innings over his last six starts, with a 38:4 K/BB ratio. Chandler features a fastball that gets up to 97-98, working best at the top of the zone. His fastball is paired with a swing-and-miss slider with a lot of sharp tilt, which plays well off the fastball. He’s also been improving his changeup this season.
Johnson was drafted fourth overall in 2022, and is in High-A Greensboro during his age-20 season. Drafted for his pure hitting skills, Johnson has had more of a focus on power in pro ball, with 25 home runs across the last two seasons. He’s batting .226/.379/.361 this year, but has also been performing much better over the last six weeks. Since May 18th, Johnson is batting .273/.384/.462, with six of his seven homers this year, across 173 plate appearances.
With Paul Skenes graduating from prospect status over the weekend, Chandler and Johnson have moved into the top two spots in the system rankings. I’ll have my updated prospect rankings on the site later today.
Henry Davis Shut Down
Henry Davis was on a rehab assignment with Altoona, returning from a concussion. After two games where he went 0-for-6 with five strikeouts, Davis has been shut down, after experiencing nausea and light headaches.
According to Andrew Destin of the Post-Gazette, Davis is currently asymptomatic. He caught the bullpen from Paul Skenes on Tuesday, ran the bases, and hit batting practice. His issues came at times when he was running the bases, according to Destin, though he hasn’t had any issues seeing.
Davis was set to be re-evaluated by the team physician last night.
Roster Moves
The Pirates have made a few moves throughout the minor league system over the last two days.
**RHP J.P. Massey was placed on the 7-day IL in Greensboro on 7/1.
**OF Lonnie White Jr. was also placed on the 7-day IL in Greensboro, retroactive 6/30.
**C Abrahan Gutierrez was activated off the 7-day IL by the Altoona Curve.
**OF Estuar Suero was activated by the FCL Pirates, after missing time with injury.
**C Miguel Sosa and RHP Greiber Mendez were sent to Single-A Bradenton from the FCL.
**OF Sergio Campana was promoted to High-A Greensboro from Bradenton.
**C Dylan Shockley was transferred to the development list from Indianapolis.
Pirates Prospects Daily
Quinn Priester allowed one run in five innings during his latest rehab start. Read about his performance and all of the Tuesday action in the minor league system in the latest Pirates Prospect Watch.
Pirates Prospect Watch: Quinn Priester Looks Good in Latest Rehab Start
The latest Statcast Heroes looks at a monster home run from Oneil Cruz, a great start from Luis Ortiz, power from Liover Peguero, and a power emergence in Single-A from Axiel Plaz.
Statcast Heroes: Oneil Cruz, Luis Ortiz, Liover Peguero, Axiel Plaz
In yesterday’s First Pitch, I looked at the Players of the Month in the Pirates’ system during the month of June, led by Chandler and Charles McAdoo.
First Pitch: Bubba Chandler and Charles McAdoo Are June’s Players of the Month
Check back on the site later today for the updated top 50 Pirates prospects rankings.
