Friday’s Spring Breakout Game between the prospects of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Philadelphia Phillies provided a glimpse of the future. Here are one writer’s takeaways from the game, typed up as the game progressed, Jack-Kerouac–On-The-Road style. For easier reading, hereinafter, the respective prospect teams will be referred to as the Pirates and the Phillies, even though they’re not the real Pirates and Phillies, at least not yet.
The squad for Spring Breakout.
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On the Road: Pirates Spring Breakout Game Impressions
Last year, the Pirates hosted the Spring Breakout Game on their home turf in Bradenton, Florida. This time, they traveled to the Phillies’ spring training home, BayCare Ballpark in Clearwater, Florida.
This year’s game wasn’t as highly anticipated as last year’s, when the nation was introduced to Paul Skenes. However, this time, the audience got a look at another hot pitching prospect, namely the Pirates’ No. 1 prospect, 22-year-old right-hander Bubba Chandler. Also in the Pirates starting lineup, hitting second, was their No. 2 prospect, 18-year-old Konnor Griffin. Unfortunately, Termarr Johnson was removed from the roster with a bone bruise in his foot. It was a tough break – or bruise – for the Pirates’ No. 4 prospect.
The Pirates-Phillies Spring Breakout Game was televised on the MLB Network, which was borrowing the feed from NBC Sports+ Philadelphia. The Phillies announcers never gave their names. The local Pittsburgh sports affiliate, SportsNet Pittsburgh, televised adult tag. I’m serious. Tag. As in, “tag, you’re it.”
Bottom of the 1st
It’s only one game, of course, but fans had to be impressed with their first look at Chandler. I have no energy or inclination to provide an inning-by-inning, batter-by-batter account of the entire game. That can be found elsewhere on the World Wide Web. But I want to do it during Chandler’s innings to show the reader how he pitched. He’s reputed to have a four-pitch mix, but not much of that was on display. He seemed content to mow the lineup down with fastballs, and if it’s working, why not?
That’s all he showed leadoff man Justin Crawford, pumping four-seam fastballs at 97 and 98 mph. Crawford was the only batter of the six faced by Chandler who gave him much of a battle. Eventually, he looked helplessly at a 98-mph third strike. He showed Dante Nori a curve and began to let it all hang out, reaching 100 mph with the four-seamer until Nori grounded to second base. Then Chandler showed Aidan Miller his cutter before Miller tapped out on a 99-mph four-seamer.
Bottom of the 2nd
We saw a bit more of Chandler’s repertoire this time around. He caught Gabriel Rincones Jr. looking at a sinker. Then Eduardo Tait struck out a big breaking pitch. I thought it was a curveball, but the MLB Network thought it was a cutter. It was chiefly back to the four-seamer against Otto Kemp, who whiffed on a 100-mph offering.
The scouting report on Chandler indicated that his four-seamer averaged 96.7 mph and sometimes touched 99 mph. Thus, it was a surprise to see Chandler consistently pump fastballs at 99 and 100 mph during his two innings. However, it was an impressive fastball with plenty of movement and life. If this were a regular start, we may have seen more pitches. Chandler may have approached this more like a relief appearance. In any event, he comes as advertised. He’s got a good arm, and projections that have him arriving in the majors in 2025 look astute.
Top of the 5th
There’s no time to discuss every prospect that got into the game, but I got curious about the Pirates’ Mitch Jebb, replacing Johnson at second base in this Spring Breakout Game. Jebb, 22, is a left-handed-hitting infielder/outfielder who’s listed as the Pirates’ No. 13 prospect. Like Johnson, Jebb is projected to arrive in the majors in 2026.
Last year at High-A Greensboro, Jebb hit .253/.341/.355. He struck out 95 times in 497 plate appearances but has a reputation as a contact hitter. His batting average doesn’t tell the whole story. Word is that he got hot last July and August.
In the second inning, Jebb ran the count to 2-0 before grounding out. This time, grinding out a long at-bat, Jebb battled Phillies pitcher Mavis Graves before smacking a sharp single past a diving first baseman. There are questions about whether his arm will play in the infield. But the brief glimpse we got of his hitting approach and quick, compact stroke in two at-bats indicates why the Pirates like him. He strikes me as a Ted Sizemore-type, the scrappy guy who may not look like much but manages to hang around the majors for a decade or so.
Meanwhile, at this point, Griffin was 0-for-3. The announcers said he’s an athlete, and the Pirates are going to let him go and proceed athletically. From experience I can say it’s a good approach. I’m a reporter, and my bosses at Last Word On Sports let me go and proceed reporterly.
Top of the 6th
Sometimes an article writes itself. I came into this thinking I’d focus on the pitchers because we’d see more of them than the hitters, but I found myself oddly engrossed with Jebb. This time, Jebb came up with runners at the corners and no outs. Batting from a crouch, he calmly watched four pitches sail out of the strike zone. The next batter, Axiel Plaz, was hit by a Micah Ottenbreit pitch to drive in a run. At that point, the score was 3-3. Unfortunately, that’s all the Pirates would get, despite loading the bases with no outs.
Top of the 9th
With the Phillies ahead 5-3, the Pirates managed to load the bases with two outs, but didn’t score. Thus, there was no need to play the bottom of the ninth, even though the announcers’ tongues weren’t tired. The Pirates managed just four hits in this Spring Breakout Game. That’s not an indictment of their young hitting prospects, of course. It has to be difficult to hit professional pitching, even by prospects, in what amounts to a bullpen game. With that in mind, it would be remiss not to mention that shortstop Tsung-Che Cheng, the Pirates No. 17 prospect, had two of the hits.
Photo Credit: © Jon Durr-Imagn Images
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