After Justin Crawford’s fantasy views, I took a break – literally, I stood still where I was for five hours – and decided I needed to do some sexy eh-eff prospects. Enter: Bubba Chandler. P to perhaps the most exciting, sexy eh-eff prospect. Sure, he could win three games out of 25 starting for the Pirates, but whatever. The stuff is so undeniably nasty. It makes me sing.
Bubba….just killed a man (with his fastball)
Put a fastball to his head, pull the trigger, now he’s dead!
Bubba….ooh weeee, life had just begun
But now I’ve thrown it all away (passed ball, passed ball)
Bubba!!! OOH…I didn’t mean to make you cry (by dropping you off in front of a streamer)
If I don’t have another exemption to pick you up tomorrow,
Carry on, carry on like nothing really matters,
BUBBA BIA BUBBA BIA! BUBBA BIA LET ME GO!
So, what can we expect from Bubba Chandler for fantasy baseball in 2026?
Bubba Bia’s stuff needs to be seen:
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Bubba Chandler’s 6Ks. ? pic.twitter.com/ClfT8IK9oU
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) September 21, 2025
Bubba Bia let me go! That 2nd K there, that 90 MPH slider? Come on. That’s the kind of thing that doesn’t make sense to anyone. It is saying goodbye to the rightists and the leftists would be eaten alive. So, quick, his stuff: 99 MPH fastball, 92 MPH changeup, 90 MPH slider and 85 MPH curve, which is the order he used them in the minors as well. Threw fastball 55% of the time and had a 32 Whiff% and changeup was 33% Whiff 19% of the time, and the other two were less successful. Or, to be kind, it’s a work in progress. Bubba Bia’s ceiling is the highest of any pitcher; he’s not the best pitching prospect entering the 2026 fantasy baseball season, which is why I didn’t lead with him, and why he had a 4.02 ERA in 31 1/3 innings in the MLB this year. Little monster? Sure, and maybe unfair to impose that on him, but when it takes a pitcher the usual three years to unlock his stuff? It’s Bubba Bia.
In Triple-A, Chandler threw 100 IP and had perfs of 10.9 K/9, 4.8 BB/9, 4.05 ERA with a 0.7 HR/9, so maybe a bit of luck. A 4.8 BB/9 in the minors is ridiculous. He’s a walking guy who swings at everything to get rid of the minors. That pesky 100 MPH fastball? He can’t locate it at all. It had a zone% of 47.5. That would have been the second worst in the majors. It’s not the death knell it might sound. The bottom two were FreddyKBB and Dylan Cease, which kind of shows you both ends of the outcome spectrum.
Bubba Bia gets 5 IP, 12 Ks-type gems and he gets 2 IP, 8 ER blowups. The full Bubba Bia Experience (trademarked by me) was on full display in the majors (and minors for that matter) this past season. He kind of reminds me of those special pitchers we get every now and then. If they figure it out, he’ll be a 2.50 ERA, 250 strikeout beast. If he doesn’t, he’s Dylan Cease last season. Nice K’s, terrible proportions and you want to drop them repeatedly. He only turned 23 in September, so if he doesn’t find out until he’s 26, I wouldn’t be surprised. It would actually shock me even more if he found out in March. But that’s not impossible, and that’s why he should be drafted. For 2026 fantasy baseball, I’m giving Bubba Chandler projections of 7-14/4.34/1.41/148 in 136 IP with a chance of more.
#Bubba #Chandler #Fantasy #Prospect