The Pittsburgh Pirates have announced their roster for the 2025 Spring Breakout Game, and it’s bound to stir some debate. This time, the Pirates prospects will face the Philadelphia Phillies prospects. The game will be played on Friday, March 14, at 1:05 PM at BayCare Ballpark, the Phillies spring training home in Clearwater, Florida.
Pirates Spring Breakout Game Roster: Who’s On, Who’s Off
The Pirates 2025 Spring Breakout Game won’t be the event that the 2024 game was. Last year, the opponent was the Baltimore Orioles prospects. The game was played in prime time, as baseball fans anticipated the matchup between Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes and Orioles phenom Jackson Holliday. The 2025 game promises no such marquee matchups but should be attractive to Pirates fans nonetheless.
The Top Prospect
The most prominent name on the roster is the Pirates No. 1 prospect, six-foot-three, 218-pound right-handed pitcher Bubba Chandler. Born Roy Ruben Chandler, the 22-year-old was the Pirates third-round pick in the 2021 June Amateur Draft out of North Oconee High School in Bogart, Georgia. The same high school produced another highly touted prospect, right-hander Kumar Rocker of the Texas Rangers. Originally drafted as a shortstop/pitcher, Chandler decided to concentrate on pitching after the 2021 season Florida Complex League season, when he found hitting complex and went 5-for-30.
It was a good decision by Chandler, who’s expected to arrive in the majors this season. His fastball averages 96.7 mph and reached as high as 99 mph in 2024. He’s added an impressive arsenal of secondary pitches with a slider, changeup, and curveball. In three seasons of pitching at various minor league levels, Chandler is 21-12 with a 3.61 ERA, 1.224 WHIP, and 11.1 strikeouts per nine innings (SO/9). Last year at Double-A Altoona, he was only 6-7 with a 3.70 ERA. But his 1.008 WHIP suggested he was more dominant than the numbers showed. He soon found himself at Triple-A Indianapolis, where he flourished. There, he was 4-0 with a 1.83 ERA, 1.042 WHIP, and 12.4 SO/9 in seven games.
Chandler is with the Pirates in spring training camp, but the baseball gods have been unkind so far. On Monday, he was the losing pitcher against the Yankees when he gave up four runs in one-third of an inning. That outing ballooned his spring ERA to 19.29 in 2 1/3 innings. Even so, and despite no formal announcement having been made, it’s hard to believe anybody but Chandler would be the starter for the Pirates prospects in the Spring Breakout Game.
The Five-Tool Teen
All eyes should also be on the Pirates No. 2 prospect, Konnor Griffin. The six-foot-four, 225-pound right-handed batter was the Pirates No. 1 draft pick (ninth overall) in 2024 out of Jackson Preparatory School in Flowood, Mississippi. Whatever preparation they do at Jackson Preparatory, Griffin certainly looks prepared for a fine baseball career. The 18-year-old was given a look-see with the Pirates before being reassigned, as expected, to the minor league camp.
Drafted as a shortstop/outfielder, as a pro Griffin will be a center fielder, which he prefers. In his brief appearances in the spring training games, he impressed with his speed and power. Last Saturday, he crushed an opposite-field home run off the Orioles Brandon Young. He’s an interesting inclusion on the roster after being fresh out of high school. However, based on what we saw in the spring games, he won’t be intimidated facing more-experienced players.
Who’s Not There – This Year’s Jones?
The omissions from the Pirates Spring Breakout roster are more interesting than the inclusions. Jared Jones, at the time the Pirates No. 3 prospect, was left off last year’s Spring Breakout roster. Jones got a good look in Pirates camp and earned a spot in the major league starting rotation. Conspicuous by their absence this time around are right-handed pitchers Tom Harrington and Braxton Ashcraft, the Pirates No. 3 and No. 6 prospects, respectively. One has to wonder whether they’ve been left off the roster because they have legitimate chances to go north with the big club. Both are with the Pirates and have pitched in exhibition games, albeit infrequently. However, they might be used more often going forward.
In 2024, Harrington was 7-3 with a 2.61 ERA and 0.963 WHIP across three minor league levels. Ashcraft was 3-2 last year, with a 2.84 ERA and 1.068 WHIP at Altoona and Indianapolis combined. Ashcraft was especially dominant in five games over 19 1/3 innings at Indy, posting a 0.47 ERA and 0.983 WHIP. Keep your eye on their spring training progress. One of them may snatch a role as a swingman on the mound for the Pirates.
Rounding Out the Roster
Other ranked prospects on the Pirates Spring Breakout roster include pitchers Hunter Barco, Levi Sterling, Zander Mueth, Anthony Solometo, and David Matoma, catchers Omar Alfonzo and Axiel Plaz, infielders Termarr Johnson, Wyatt Sanford, Jack Brannigan, Jhonny Severino (who was acquired in the Carlos Santana trade in 2023), Mitch Jebb, Yordany De Los Santos, Tsung-Che Cheng, and Tony Blanco Jr., and outfielder Edward Florentino.
Filling out the roster are pitchers Brandan Bidois, Nick Dombkowski, Wilber Dotel, Wilkin Ramos, and Jaden Woods, catcher Richard Ramirez, and outfielders Sammy Siani, Esmerlyn Valdez, and Lonnie White Jr.
On TV
Holding the game on a weekday afternoon is an unfortunate choice. Preschoolers, retirees who think they’re writers (like me), and remote workers screwing off for the afternoon can watch the game on the MLB Network. The technologically hip can watch it on MLB.TV, MLB.com, and the MLB App. In Philadelphia, the game will also be available on NBCSP+. In Pittsburgh, the logical channel to carry the game would be SportsNet Pittsburgh, but their schedule is a closely guarded secret.
Main Photo Credits: Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images
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