Pirates Prospect Update: Bubba Chandler, Termarr Johnson injury, Sammy Stafura HR

Konnor Griffin was promoted, but Pirates fans must be updated on the not-so-great news.
Pittsburgh Pirates v Minnesota Twins
Pittsburgh Pirates v Minnesota Twins | Brace Hemmelgarn/GettyImages

Top MLB prospect Konnor Griffin's promotion to Double-A Altoona was the biggest news to come out of the Pittsburgh Pirates' farm system this weekend, but it's far from the only noteworthy development in the organization's prospect pipeline.

Bubba Chandler, baseball's top pitching prospect, according to MLB Pipeline, continued a recent string of poor performances on Saturday with Triple-A Indianapolis. Facing the New York Yankees' Triple-A affiliate, Chandler allowed six hits, a season-high five walks, and four earned runs while posting five strikeouts over 94 pitches. The right-hander, who has given up at least two earned runs in each of his last six outings, hasn't had a scoreless start since July 10.

On the season, Chandler has a 5-6 record and a 4.05 ERA over 100 innings pitched through 24 starts. He has 121 strikeouts to 53 walks and a 1.48 WHIP during that span. The Pirates are hoping he will return to his early 2025 form, when he allowed just 11 earned runs through his first 11 starts, as they look to backfill their Major League rotation following Andrew Heaney's move to the bullpen.

Pirates Prospect Update: Termarr Johnson suffers injury, Sammy Stafura hits first homer with High-A Greensboro

Second baseman Termarr Johnson, the Pirates' No. 6 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, suffered brutal-looking injury when he took a fastball to the hand during a game for Double-A Altoona on Friday. He immediately left the game and did not appear in either of Altoona's next two contests on Saturday or Sunday.

While Johnson has yet to receive an official injured list designation, the Pirates will hope his injury isn't as bad as it looked. He has been on fire of late, slashing .421/.465/.605 with a 1.070 OPS over his last 10 games.

Another Pirates prospect who has been heating up recently is shortstop Sammy Stafura, the centerpiece of the Ke'Bryan Hayes trade with the Cincinnati Reds. The Pirates' No. 7 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, Stafura hit his first home run with High-A Greensboro on Saturday to put his team up, 2-1 in the third inning against Greenville.

The adjustment to High-A hasn't been immediate for Stafura, who is slashing just .179/.250/.282 through 10 games, but the Pirates will hope that Saturday's homer is a sign of what's to come for the 20-year-old shortstop.

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