Of course the Pirates somehow found a way to ruin Bubba Chandler's promotion

The day that Pittsburgh Pirates fans have been waiting for all summer finally arrived on Wednesday, with reports that top pitching prospect Bubba Chandler was finally set to be promoted to the Majors. According to MLB.com's Alex Stumpf, Chandler — the sport's best pitching prospect and the No. 7 prospect overall, per MLB Pipeline — will get the call from Triple-A ahead of Friday's game against the Colorado Rockies.

Chandler has rocketed through Pittsburgh's system since being taken in the third round of the 2021 MLB Draft out of Georgia's North Oconee High School, armed with an electric fastball and two rapidly improving secondary pitches in his slider and changeup. He's long looked the part of a future star, the ideal running mate for Paul Skenes and Jared Jones in the Pirates' homegrown rotation — and while the team made everybody wait longer than expected to see him at the MLB level, this is still a huge development for the future of the franchise.

All of which should mean that Pirates fans are thrilled. One of the brightest young talents in baseball, coming up in time to offer an audition ahead of what could be an exciting 2026 season? That's the stuff that rebuilding seasons are for.

But of course, these are the Pittsburgh Pirates we're talking about, a team that has been squandering excitement and good will for years now. Bob Nutting and Co. can find a way to ruin even the most straight-forward of great news — and sure enough, they managed to throw in a wrinkle to Chandler's promotion that's left everybody scratching their heads.

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Bubba Chandler keeps getting jerked around by the Pirates

Yes, seriously: Chandler will come to Pittsburgh not as a starter in the team's depleted rotation, but as ... a multi-inning reliever? What?

Far be it from us to question the eternal wisdom of Ben Cherington, but this is a puzzler. Chandler has made just six relief appearances at the professional level, so this represents a pretty serious change to his preparation. And it's not like Pittsburgh doesn't have room for him: This team is in last place, and just had to call up Johan Oviedo from Triple-A to make Wednesday's start against the Toronto Blue Jays. If the Pirates wanted him to start, it would be all too easy.

So ... what gives, then? Chandler has thrown 100 innings so far this season, and his previous career high was that 119.2 mark last year; even if he were inserted into the rotation on Friday, he wouldn't eclipse that mark by an unreasonable amount. The right answer appears to be the simplest one: The Pirates are simply scared to break their hot young arm, and instead of letting him get his feet wet as a big-league starter, they're trying to unnecessarily shield him in a low-leverage bullpen role that doesn't serve anyone.

This isn't the first time, either. Pittsburgh has done the same thing with former top prospect Braxton Ashcraft, who was called up in late May and has a 4.07 ERA in 10 appearances since the start of July. It's unclear how this has benefitted him, if at all, but he still has yet to prove that he can turn over a Major League lineup multiple times. That's the sort of seasoning Chandler needs; his command is still a work in progress, and his secondaries need to continue to develop if he's going to be a true frontline guy. But at this point the best way for him to learn is by doing, and doing at the highest level. Instead, what was supposed to be a launching pad for next year is just creating more questions about the future.