It’s a cruel business and not for the weak of heart. But eventually the pros always find a way to humble the most skilled.

Pittsburgh Pirates pitching prospect Bubba Chandler pitched lights out in his first two Major League appearances.

In Pittsburgh’s game on August 22 against the Rockies, Chandler came in relief of Braxton Ashcraft and shut down the Rockies for four innings.

After five shut out innings from Ashcraft, Chandler came in a low risk situation to prevent any potential comeback. He finished the game after throwing four innings with three strikeouts, two hits allowed, no walks, and no earned runs.

Chandler ended up walking away with his first career save in a 9-0 blowout.

Similarly in his second appearance, Chandler was brought in relief for Carmen Mlodzinski against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Pittsburgh, already down 1-0, rallied to take a 2-1 lead and eventually hold that lead, led by Chandler, giving him his first career win.

Just this past Tuesday, Chandler was slotted into a game against the Los Angeles Dodgers after coming in relief for Mlodzinski once again.

It was a bit of a bumpy ride compared to his previous outings, but Chandler showed why he’s revered by the Pirates. He let up six hits, three earned runs, and allowed the first two home runs of his professional career. One of them was against the favorite for National League MVP, Shohei Ohtani, who crushed a rocket that had an exit velocity of 120 mph.

It was a moment that even he was amazed at.

“I was kind of wowed by it,” Chandler recalled. “I looked up at the board to see how hard it was hit. Came in here and the strength coach was just saying, ‘wow…’ and I was kinda like, ‘dang it’s crazy that you can hit a ball that hard.’ But you know, he’s a great player, one of the best players to ever play.”

But even after that, Chandler bounced back and came away with his second career win, this time against the reigning World Series Champions. 

It gave the Pirates fans hope for the first time in a while. The Pirates have only won two playoff games since 1992, and only achieved three seasons with a record over .500 in that timespan. 

The “future” was continuously dangled in front of the Pirates fans and ultimately, it was sold off after constant disappointment.

After 30-plus years, will the future finally be now? Or will the Pirates sell off their future in similar fashion?