Pirates’ minor league affiliates went 0-3 on Friday, with the Altoona Curve suffering the worst news of all as right-hander Bubba Chandler, MLB Pipeline’s No. 67 prospect, left during the first inning following an injury delay.
Chandler walked five of the seven batters he faced before a trainer intervened, pulling him out of the game. The 21-year-old struggled mightily in his past two starts, with his ERA ballooning from 3.10 to 5.84 in the process. Whether the training staff pulled him from the game for mechanical issues or something more remains to be seen. Altoona ended up allowing six runs in the first inning, five of them charged to Chandler. That marked all the offense their opponents needed, as the Curve fell 6-3.
Elsewhere in the system, the Indianapolis Indians couldn’t keep up with the Toledo Mud Hens offense, falling 8-3 after surrendering five unanswered runs.
The Bradenton Marauders fell 5-2 to the Tampa Tarpons, hitting a pair of solo homers but struggling with runners on base.
High-A Greensboro saw their game postponed due to rain, with a makeup doubleheader scheduled for Saturday.
Here are the top performing Pirates’ prospects on Friday.
LF Canaan Smith-Njigba
2B Ji-hwan Bae
Double-A Altoona (9-28)
3B Brenden Dixon
SS Tsung-Che Cheng
High-A Greensboro (22-14)
DNP: inclement weather.
Single-A Bradenton (17-20)
C Axiel Plaz
LF Eddy Rodriguez
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