Roy Ruben "Bubba" Chandler (born September 14, 2002) is an American

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

for the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

organization.

Amateur career

Chandler lives in Bogart, Georgia, and attended

North Oconee High School North Oconee High School (NOHS) is a public school located in Bogart, Georgia, United States. It opened in 2004 and is the second public high school in Oconee County. The school's mascot is Titus, and its colors are red, black, and gold. The scho ...

, where he was a member of the baseball and football teams. He started on the varsity basketball team during his freshman and sophomore years and was also a member of the golf team before focusing on football and baseball. Chandler was initially only recruited by college baseball programs and committed to play at the University of Georgia going into his junior year of high school after posting a 7–0 record with 55 strikeouts in innings as a pitcher and batting .356 with 14 doubles and 25 RBIs the previous season. During his junior football season, Chandler completed 167 of 220 passing attempts for 2,098 yards and 27 touchdowns while also rushing for 505 yards and four touchdowns. In baseball, he batted .435 with two home runs, five doubles and 16 RBIs and struck out 16 batters in seven innings pitched before the season was cut short due to the coronavirus pandemic. Later in the year, Chandler decommitted from Georgia and then committed to play both college football and baseball at Clemson. During the summer he gained 35 pounds and developed a slider after studying Vanderbilt pitcher Kumar Rocker. As a senior, Chandler was named the Region 8 4A Offensive Player of the Year after passing for 1,842 yards and 18 touchdowns while also rushing for 548 yards and six touchdowns. During his senior baseball season he also established himself as one of the best

two-way Two-way or Two Way may refer to: * " 2-Way", single by rapper Lil' Romeo * Two-way, Cincinnati chili Cincinnati chili (or Cincinnati-style chili) is a Mediterranean-spiced meat sauce used as a topping for spaghetti or hot dogs ("coneys"); b ...

prospects in the

2021 Major League Baseball Draft The 2021 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft took place on July 11–13, 2021. In conjunction with the 2021 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, the draft was held in Denver. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The ...

. Chandler finished his senior baseball season with an 8–1 record and a 1.25 ERA with 96 strikeouts over innings pitched and also batted .411 with 12 doubles, eight home runs, 35 RBIs, and 41 runs scored.

Professional career

The

selected Chandler in the third round, with the 72nd overall pick, in the

2021 Major League Baseball draft The 2021 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft took place on July 11–13, 2021. In conjunction with the 2021 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, the draft was held in Denver. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The ...

. He signed with Pittsburgh on July 21, 2021, for an over slot

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

of $3 million. After signing with the team Chandler was assigned to the Rookie-level

Florida Complex League Pirates The Florida Complex League Pirates are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates, competing in the Florida Complex League of Minor League Baseball. Prior to 2021, the team was known as the Gulf Coast League Pirates. The team plays its h ...

, where he played in 11 games as a shortstop and designated hitter and batted .167. Chandler returned to the Florida Complex League Pirates after beginning the 2022 season in extended spring training. He was promoted to the Bradenton Marauders of the Single-A

Florida State League The Florida State League (FSL) is a Minor League Baseball league based in the state of Florida. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following ...

. Chandler decided to give up playing shortstop and focus solely on pitching entering the 2023 season.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chandler, Bubba 2002 births Baseball players from Gwinnett County, Georgia Baseball pitchers Baseball shortstops Living people Florida Complex League Pirates players Bradenton Marauders players Greensboro Grasshoppers players Sportspeople from Lawrenceville, Georgia Altoona Curve players