As Bubba Chandler was walking through the outfield to the mound at BayCare Ballpark on Friday afternoon for his Spring Breakout start, he quickly stopped and chatted with the Phillies’ No. 3 prospect Justin Crawford.

“I was like ‘Hey, first pitch changeup,’ ” Chandler said.

Crawford responded: “Come on, Bub. Don’t do that.”

Chandler didn’t. Instead, he threw Crawford five straight fastballs that all topped 97 mph and one hit 99.9 mph on the gun. It’s safe to say that despite not making the big-league roster out of spring training, a goal he had in mind this season, the Pirates’ top prospect was amped up for his start.

Chandler pitched the first two innings of the Pirates’ 5-3 loss to the Phillies. He threw 30 pitches, 19 of which went for strikes, and utilized all four of his pitches while recording four strikeouts and not allowing a hit. He also faced the top six hitters in the Phillies lineup, which included their No. 2, No. 3, No. 4, No. 6, No. 10 and No. 23 prospects, three of which are ranked in MLB Pipeline’s Top 100. 

“I wasn’t bummed when I was told I was pitching in it, it’s an honor being recognized as a top player or whatever, I was pumped,” Chandler said. “I wanted to make the big-league team kinda like Jared (Jones) did last year and skip this event. But, pitching in this is great. Like you saw today, I was amped up a little bit. Great players the Phillies got with some of the young guys. It was a good, I don’t want to say a tune up game, but today it was like ‘Alright, let’s throw, focus on this, focus on this,’ but when I got out there it was like ‘Screw that, let’s go compete’ and I did.”

In general, today's Spring Breakout game was another opportunity for the Pirates to display their talented pitching pitching prospects and it came without Braxton Ashcraft or Thomas Harrington even participating.

With Chandler leading the charge and Harrington, Ashcraft and Mike Burrows waiting for their next opportunity, the Pirates have one of the best pitching systems in Major League baseball. Today was a perfect opportunity to showcase that depth and despite the 5-3 loss, the Pirates did that.

A year ago, Chandler pitched the final inning of the Pirates’ Spring Breakout game against the Orioles at LECOM Park. He did the opposite this time around and took a different approach, which is a sign of how much he’s grown as a pitcher over the last year.

After throwing straight fastballs last spring, he found different ways to approach hitters during this showcase. So, while he leaned on his fastball early -- and dialed it up to near triple digits -- he also set hitters up for his changeup, slider and curveball.

One example came when Chandler faced Gabriel Rincones Jr. at the beginning of the second inning. He got to a 3-2 count and rather than trying to blow his fastball past Rincones, Chandler went to his changeup up in the zone and froze the Phillies’ No. 10 prospect for a called third strike.

“Fastballs can get you through levels, but at the same time, in the big leagues, you've got to be able to mix, and that's kind of my thought behind everything, 3-2, put yourself in an uncomfortable situation,” Chandler said. “I love my changeup, I can control it pretty well, let's throw it 3-2. And Omar (Alfonzo), me and him are on the same page. He called it, I didn't have to shake to it, and then I executed."

However, Chandler wasn't the only Pirates' pitching prospect that got to put their talents on display on this occasion. Anthony Solometo (No. 14) and Hunter Barco (No. 7), both took the mound for the Pirates along with a myriad of other prospects.

While Solometo allowed two earned runs and gave up three hard hits in 1 1/3 innings of work, he struck out three and got a ball overturned for a strikeout to end the fourth.

Barco allowed a run on one hit over two innings of work. He had a decent spring after appearing twice with the big-league club this spring and both outings were at opposite ends of the spectrum before being reassigned to minor-league camp. He threw one inning against the Braves on Feb. 26 and struck out two while not allowing a hit in one inning of work. He then faced the Yankees on March 3 and gave up two home runs and four earned runs.

The big thing for this southpaw however has been his uptick in velocity as he's hit 97 mph with his fastball at times. He underwent Tommy John surgery in 2022 and has slowly worked his way back over the last two seasons. He made 16 starts between Class A Greensboro and Class AA Altoona last year before a lower-leg injury sidelined him toward the end of last season.

Barco told me today that figuring out what caused that injury and in turn working to correct it, allowed him to increase his velocity coming into the spring.

"Just adding space in the hips and strength opens up a whole lot of space down the mound for my arm to come through as well," Barco told me.

But that also has come with challenges. He said the increase in velocity forced him to tinker with his mechanics, mainly his release point on his breaking pitches, to find the zone better as he adjusted. It's still put him in a good spot this spring among a talented group of pitchers.

"I feel like at that point, we found it and added a cutter this offseason for left-handed hitters," Barco said. "Other than that, just ready to go."

A few other notes from today:

• Tsung-Che Cheng went 2-for-4 with an RBI and played solid defensively at shortstop.

• After two professional baseball seasons, Mitch Jebb, the Pirates' second round pick from 2023, is starting to come along. He told me he's starting to finally find a rhythm with the day-to-day grind of being a professional baseball player and that's showing in how he approaches at-bats. He walked twice today and scored a run.

• Konnor Griffin had a tough day at the plate and went 0-for-5, fouling out twice. He looked somewhat frustrated by the end of the day. I could say the same for Jack Brannigan as he went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts and came up short in a couple crucial situations.

• Omar Alfonzo went 1-for-3 and knocked a double off the wall in left center. He had a pretty decent day at the plate and made solid contact while also scoring a run.