When word spread in the Pittsburgh Pirates clubhouse that Bubba Chandler would be making his major-league debut out of the bullpen instead of the starting rotation, Mike Burrows wasn’t surprised. A 22-year-old right-hander who is baseball’s top pitching prospect,

MLB Pipeline ranks Chandler as the No. 7 prospect in all of baseball and the second-best in the Pirates' system, behind only No. 1 prospect Konnor Griffin. Fans have waited for months for him to join the MLB team, and they'll have to wait even longer to see him join a rotation led by another former top pitching prospect, Paul Skenes.

Even before he emerged from the bullpen Friday, the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Bubba Chandler was considered the top pitching prospect in baseball. The hard-throwing 22-year-old confirmed those credentials in his major league debut.