Bubba Chandler goes 6 1/3 scoreless versus Yankees

Chandler struck out five and walked one in his second scoreless start of the season. He must have something against the New York teams, because he also shut out the Yankees for 6 1/3 innings in the Bronx last month. We’re not really sure if Chandler has turned the corner, but he does have a 2.36 ERA in his last five starts, mostly because he hasn’t allowed any homers. His 24/10 K/BB during the span still isn’t particularly impressive, and he was lifted shy of five innings in two of the outings. He’ll have a tougher assignment next week against the Red Sox.

Chandler dealt with some traffic on the basepaths, but managed to hold Milwaukee off the scoreboard until an RBI single by Joey Ortiz with two outs in the fifth inning. He gave up another RBI single with two outs in the ensuing frame that led to his exit from the contest. He departed after striking out five and handing out four free passes. The 23-year-old former top prospect holds a pedestrian 4.49 ERA, 1.41 WHIP and 98/61 K/BB ratio across 110 1/3 innings this season. He’s in line for a favorable matchup against the Mets on Saturday to finish off a two-start week.

Once again tonight, Chandler was quite good at limiting hard contact, but this still makes three times in four starts that he’s failed to complete five innings. He allowed eight hits despite giving up just five hard-hit balls. Chandler has definitely made real gains since the early part of the season, but it’s still not resulting in much fantasy value at all. He hasn’t won since June 25, and he’s just 3-8 on the season. He’ll likely face the Reds on Sunday.

This will give Dennis Santana a little more time to cool off. Both teams have Thursday off, but they’ll play two tomorrow, with the makeup game starting at 7:05 p.m. EDT and the originally scheduled game being moved up from 1:35 to 1:05. Bubba Chandler and Will Warren had been scheduled to start tonight’s game. They should join Wednesday’s scheduled starters Mitch Keller and Gerrit Cole in pitching tomorrow, but the order might be changed up.

Chandler quieted the Brewers’ bats through four innings before giving up two runs on three hits in the fifth. With three walks and six strikeouts, he drove his pitch count up to 97 with two outs in the inning before he was replaced on the mound. The 23-year-old right-hander ends the first half with a 4.77 ERA, 1.45 WHIP, and an 85/55 K/BB ratio across 94 1/3 innings.

Chandler also issued four walks on the afternoon and did not record a single strikeout. After starting the day with a pair of scoreless innings, he served up a two-run homer to Luis García Jr. in the third inning. After the Nats added a single run in the fourth, Chandler loaded the bases to start the fifth inning before handing a mess over to the bullpen, from which only one of those inherited runners ultimately scored. The 23-year-old righty got just two swings and misses on 86 pitches, posting a miserable CSW of 13 percent. He’ll carry an uninspiring 4.82 ERA, 1.44 WHIP and a 79/52 K/BB (89 2/3 innings) into Saturday’s showdown against the Brewers.

That’s pretty much the same line Braxton Ashcraft had in a win for the Pirates last night, but Ashcraft wasn’t matched up with Cristopher Sánchez and this turned out to be an 8-0 loss for the Pirates. Chandler struck out six, but he managed just seven whiffs on 51 swings and a 22 percent CSW. It still seems like Chandler, who topped out at 101.5 mph tonight, will find another gear at some point, but there isn’t much to be encouraged about in his numbers. He’ll likely face the Nationals on Sunday.

Chandler gave up nine hard-hit balls, walked three and struck out four yet outdueled Bryce Miller, who allowed three hard-hit balls, walked none and struck out 11. Both gave up five hits, but while two of Miller’s were homers, Chandler’s produced only six total bases. It’s the fourth straight outing in which Chandler has allowed two runs or fewer. It sure would be nice to see him improve on his 21 percent strikeout rate, 13 percent walk rate and 35 percent groundball rate, but he’s getting the job done of late. He’s due to pitch in Philadelphia next week.

It’s always tense when a pitcher who hasn’t been there best has to pitch against the Rockies in Coors Field. Chandler somewhat stood up to the test in terms of limiting damage, but his ability to generate swings-and-misses continues to be inconsistent. He forced just nine total whiffs and only one came from his slider after he seemed to turn a corner with that pitch last time out. His fastball is incredible, it just can’t be the only thing he uses to try and get major league hitters out. He’s scheduled to face the Mariners at home next time out.

Chandler tossed two clean innings, then gave up a run on a pair of hits in the third. He settled in for a clean fourth and fifth, then departed with two runners on and two outs in the sixth at 84 pitches. Overall, it was an encouraging start for the 23-year-old right-hander as he walked just one batter for only the third time in 13 starts. Chandler will look to build on his performance when he takes a 4.76 ERA, 1.38 WHIP, and a 68/41 K/BB ratio across 68 innings into a start against the Rockies in Colorado on Friday.