PITTSBURGH — The way general manager Ben Cherington views it, the decision to call up Bubba Chandler was three-fold.
The first was obvious: They wanted to get his feet wet in the Majors. The game’s top pitching prospect according to MLB Pipeline (and No. 7 overall) is going to be part of next year’s plans, and getting Major League feedback will be advantageous for both Chandler and the team.
The second was a bit murkier: when do they call him up? Chandler had command issues in June and never got on a run like his first two months again.
“At some point, we got concerned at some point that if we wait for some stretch of perfection, we might see the clock run out and miss that opportunity,” Cherington said Sunday afternoon before the Pirates’ 4-0 win vs. the Rockies at PNC Park.
This led to the third part of the equation: his role. In the week leading up to Chandler’s debut, the team had discussions about using him as a bulk reliever first, similar to what they did with Braxton Ashcraft. It would get him into the Majors, and he would have the opportunity to earn starts at some point down the stretch.
It’s hard to find much fault with Chandler’s Major League debut Saturday. He struck out three over four scoreless innings and locked down a save against the Rockies. The guy who had been struggling with Triple-A Indianapolis looked dominant in the big leagues.
So, let’s circle back to that first point. The goal is to learn more about how he could fit into the 2026 team and get him that experience. The timing of his promotion to the Majors was partially out of his control. Is earning a start within his control?
“He can earn it,” Cherington said. “It’s not going to be guaranteed. We were open to him that this is the role now. Doesn’t mean you can’t earn starts at some point. That could be September or whenever. We will let Donnie [manager Don Kelly] guide that going forward. Trying to keep him in the same mindset we are trying to all the young pitchers in: When it’s their turn to pitch, get outs, get as many outs as you can until Donnie comes and takes the ball away from you. Help the team win and we’ll plan for the next one.”
“I wouldn’t have put my money on it, but he’s earned it,” Cherington said. “We decided that whatever happened in Double-A the rest of the way would be better than finishing out the year in High-A.”
Griffin has more than held his own in his first week in Altoona, and it’s easy to wonder if he could jump two more levels next year and reach the Majors. With that said, the Pirates aren’t going to make moves this offseason with the idea of him being the everyday shortstop. At least not yet.
“I think, to some degree, with guys like Konnor, he’s gonna tell us to some degree over time ‘when’ and ‘if’ and ‘how’ how our decisions should start to be informed by him,” Cherington said. “I don’t know if we’re quite at that point this offseason, but we’ll get there sooner rather than later.”
Rodríguez on the mend again
Endy Rodríguez underwent an ulnar nerve transposition surgery on Aug. 12, ending his season. It was the second elbow surgery he has had in approximately 20 months, procedures that have limited him to 18 Major League and 18 Minor League games over the last two seasons.
The Pirates “haven’t fully dove into” the idea that he might need to move off catcher to be able to stay on the field, but Cherington acknowledged there will be time this offseason to potentially do that. Until then, “nothing has changed” with how they view Rodríguez.
“[We] believe he’s a catcher who we believe can be good at the position defensively and hit left-handed [and] is a massive value to the team,” Cherington said. “[We] believe having right-left balance behind the plate … is a real asset to the team. I think we still have the potential to have that here through Endy. I don’t want to give up on that easily and I’m sure we’ll do a deep dive on it this offseason.”
