INDIANAPOLIS — The sun is starting to creep through the winter gray, temperatures are rising and baseball is back at Victory Field, sending a signal that summer is finally on its way.
The Indianapolis Indians open their home schedule on Tuesday, returning to Indianapolis after an unseasonably warm opener in St. Paul last Friday, followed by two days of playing in frigid Minnesota temperatures.
Indianapolis opens its home schedule with six games against the Iowa Cubs this week, and although Paul Skenes opened his season in Pittsburgh, there are plenty of reasons to make a trip to Victory Field this season.
The next big Pirates arm: Bubba Chandler
Pittsburgh has another golden arm trying to follow the Skenes path to the majors by opening in Indianapolis this season.
Bubba Chandler, Pittsburgh’s No. 1 prospect and the No. 15 prospect overall, will open his season in Indianapolis with the hopes of ramping up for a call-up as the summer really begins to settle into the major league season.
Chandler might not have Skenes’s level of fame but he’s got incredible stuff. Chandler, a third-round pick in 2021 who began his career in the minors as a two-way player, routinely touches 100 miles per hour with his fastball, and he’s got a cutter and improving changeup that could put him in the major leagues soon.
Chandler finished last season with Indianapolis, posting a 1.83 ERA and 54 strikeouts over 39-plus innings in seven games with the Indians to end the year.
Part of a growing group of young starters in Pittsburgh headlined by Skenes and Jared Jones, Chandler appears to be next in line.
“He was supposed to go be a quarterback at Clemson, so I think he can handle the spotlight,” Indians pitching coach Drew Benes said. “When the lights flip on, Bubba’s ready.”
