The Pirates won't get anywhere close to the playoffs this season—they trail the Mets by 13 games for the National League's final wild-card spot—but on Friday their fans got a glimmer of hope in the arrival of pitcher Bubba Chandler.
Chandler, 22, has long been touted among the sport's top prospects. He entered Friday having spent the entire season with Triple-A Indianapolis, going 5-6 with a 4.05 ERA and 121 strikeouts in 100 innings. However, against the Rockies, Pittsburgh issued Chandler a new challenge: pitch out of the bullpen for just the seventh time in his professional career.
