Brewers' Triple-A squad dominates top prospect in Friday night win

The future is bright for the NL Central. Even the Pittsburgh Pirates, whose refusal to invest the necessary money in their offense has led to a fourth or fifth-place finish in the division in each of the last eight seasons, have several reasons to be encouraged about the future of their ball club.

One of those reasons comes in the form of the 2021 3rd-round pick Bubba Chandler. Chandler is the Pirates’ top prospect, the No. 5 overall prospect in baseball, and the best pitching prospect still in the minor leagues. Despite calls for Chandler to be promoted to the big leagues ringing out from the Pirate fan base for most of the 2025 season, Pittsburgh has chosen patience when it comes to their top prospect.

Chandler got off to an incredible start this season, posting a 2.03 ERA in his first 11 starts with 69 strikeouts in just 48.2 innings. He can run his 70-grade fastball up to 99 mph, and he pairs it with three above-average secondary offerings.

However, Chandler has been slipping as of late. In five starts in June, he posted an 8.53 ERA and failed to collect a win. It appeared he was back on track after back-to-back scoreless six-inning outings to start the month of July, but last night, the Milwaukee Brewers' Triple-A squad, the Nashville Sounds, got to Chandler early, before weather abruptly ended the game.

Nashville Sounds score five runs on Pittsburgh Pirates' top prospect Bubba Chandler

A Friday night matchup between the Nashville Sounds and Indianapolis Indians, the Pirates' Triple-A affiliate, looked destined for a rainout all night. However, the two teams were able to scratch out six full innings before the rains came and ended the game early.

With Nestor Cortes on the bump for the Sounds, Indianapolis put up an early run after Ji Hwan Bae walked, stole second, and scored on an RBI single from Nick Solak. However, Nashville answered right back in the bottom of the first with a solo shot from Daz Cameron to tie the game at 1-1. Chandler, who Cameron hit the home run off of, does not surrender many homers. In fact, he allowed just one long ball in each of the last three months.

But the Sounds, and specifically Cameron, weren't done. In the bottom of the second frame, Cameron hit another solo home run off of Chandler — a left center bomb that traveled 413 feet — giving the Sounds a 2-1 lead at the time.

However, the big inning came in the bottom of the fourth, when Jeferson Quero, the Brewers No. 5 ranked prospect, drove in a pair with an RBI double to left. Tyler Black, who is starting to heat up at the plate after a slow start to his 2025 season which was delayed due to a hand injury, followed Quero's double with an RBI single, giving Nashville a 5-1 lead against one of the best pitchers in the minor leagues. Both Quero and Black collected three hits in the game, but with a multi-HR effort, the player of the game award has to go to Cameron.

The dominant Friday night win against some of the best competition in Triple-A serves as an excellent reminder of the Brewers' depth throughout their organization. With the trade deadline approaching, that depth could either be called upon to impact the major league roster, or used to add a new impact bat to the Brewers' lineup — only time will tell.