Pittsburgh Pirates prospects who deserve to be in MLB by the end of June

The Pittsburgh Pirates called up two of their top prospects in May in right-handers Mike Burrows and Braxton Ashcraft. MLB Pipeline ranks Burrows as their 15th-best prospect, while Ashcraft sneaks into their top 10 at number seven. Now that we’re heading into summer, the Pirates should see more of their top prospects hit the major leagues.

Bubba Chandler should be up sooner rather than later at this point. There’s not much left for him to prove at Triple-A. Since getting promoted to Indianapolis last season, Chandler owns a 1.94 ERA, 2.84 FIP, and 1.06 WHIP in 88 innings of work. He has struck out over a third of his opponents with a 34.6% K%, and has a 35% whiff rate. When opponents are able to hit the ball vs. Chandler, he’s kept them to an 86.8 MPH exit velocity and 5.3% barrel rate. 

The only thing not overly positive you can say about Chandler is that his 10.1% walk rate since getting to Triple-A isn’t outstanding, but even that is still better than average. Over the last two years, the average mark in the International League is 10.9%. Chandler is pretty much the undisputed best Triple-A pitcher right now. The right-hander ranks first in ERA, FIP, K%, and comes in second in K%-BB%, HR/9, xFIP, and WHIP among Triple-A pitchers with at least 80 IP since last season.

Chandler is now ranked as MLB Pipeline’s second-best prospect and Baseball America’s third-best across all of baseball, which is the highest either publication has ever ranked any Pirates prospect. That’s higher than Paul Skenes, Gregory Polanco, Gerrit Cole, Neil Walker, Andrew McCutchen, or Pedro Alvarez.

Bubba Chandler deserves MLB promotion - and so do these other Pirates prospects

Another prospect who deserves a look in the major leagues this June is Hunter Barco. Barco started the year off with 30 straight scoreless innings between Altoona and Indianapolis. Overall, he has an 0.81 ERA in 33 innings, which is the lowest of any minor league pitcher with at least eight starts. He’s yet to allow a home run and has a 52.4% ground ball percentage. Barco has also struck out over a third of his opponents with a 35.9% strikeout rate, but his walk rate is a tad high at 12.2%.

Barco missed part of May due to an injury, but returned strong on May 31, tossing three scoreless frames with seven Ks. The Pirates will definitely have an opening for a decent lefty pitcher within the coming weeks. It’s unlikely that all of Andrew Heaney, Caleb Ferguson, Ryan Borucki, and Joey Wentz will make it to July. Barco would arguably be an upgrade over everyone listed except for Heaney.

Both Chandler and Barco would be making their MLB debuts, but Nick Yorke, who should also be elevated, has already made a major league appearance. He stepped to the dish 42 times in 2024, but was sent to Triple-A to open 2025. After a sluggish start to the year that also included an injury, Yorke then went on to hit .322/.366/.425 in May. He only walked 6.5% of the time, but kept up a 16.1% K% with a respectable 26.7% whiff rate. Yorke didn’t hit for much power, but had a solid 88.9 MPH exit velocity and graded out well in both exit velocity and barrel rate in 2024. Overall, he had a 115 wRC+ and .361 wOBA in May.

Yorke has primarily played second base throughout his minor league career, but over the last two campaigns, he’s gotten work in at both outfield corners, third base, and shortstop. With how many positions the Pirates can pencil Yorke into, there are definitely plenty of opportunities for them to get Yorke into the lineup, especially if they slide current second baseman Nick Gonzales over to shortstop, which seems like a possibility.

There are ways for the Pirates to improve internally, and hopefully, they take advantage of it. Promoting Chandler gives the rotation a massive boost (and potentially the bullpen as well). Barco could also be a big help. The Pirates need to see what he’s got, as most of their lefties are on short-term deals.

Yorke has a ton of upside, much more than most of the Bucs’ current batters. While it may be a frustrating season so far, Pirates fans at least have these names to look forward to this summer.