PITTSBURGH — The expectations for Bubba Chandler had been exceptionally high since the end of last season.

The right-handed pitching prospect finished 2024 with a flourish after a late-season promotion from Double-A Altoona to Triple-A Indianapolis. In seven starts at the highest level of the minor leagues, Chandler went 4-0 with a 1.83 ERA.

That led to many Pittsburgh Pirates fans believing Chandler would be the next Paul Skenes. The excitement was understandable after Chandler dominated the International League during the same season that Skenes won National League Rookie of the Year and finished third in the NL Cy Young Award balloting.

However, the major leagues aren’t as easy to master as Skenes makes it look. Evidence of that came on Sunday at PNC Park.

Chandler made his first major-league start and fourth overall appearance in the big leagues. The 22-year-old got hammered by the Milwaukee Brewers, whose 89-55 record is the best in the major leagues.

The Brewers jumped on Chandler for four runs in the first inning, added one more in the second, then scored four more in the third. In all, Chandler was tagged for nine runs and nine hits in 2.2 innings, giving up one more run than the number of hitters he retired.

Chandler looked more mentally beaten than physically when he met with reporters following the Pirates’ 10-2 loss.

“Yeah, you don’t want your first start going like that,” Chandler said. “You don’t want any game going like that. Hate that I screwed up the bullpen. Try to get out there next week and learn from it. It sucks.”

Chandler began his career with two wins and a save in three games in a bulk-relief role, allowing three runs in 11 innings.

That made the Pirates believe Chandler was ready for a start, and they were right. Chandler deserved the opportunity he received Sunday despite the result.

Chandler getting walloped by the Brewers wasn’t a shock. He had a lackluster season at Indianapolis – a 5-6 record and 4.05 ERA in 24 starts – and scout after scout who watched Chandler kept saying that his lack of fastball command would be exposed when he reached the major leagues.

Sunday’s outing illustrated two points.

One thing is that the big leagues are really tough. Two is that Skenes is an anomaly as he hasn’t given up more than five runs in any of his 52 starts in his first two major-league seasons and has a career ERA of 1.97.

All young pitchers, except Skenes, have at least one day like Chandler experienced Sunday, even if it was painful for Chandler to accept.

“I felt great,” Chandler said. “I don’t think I did a good job of sequencing or landing stuff early. When I started to do it, I just kind of felt like I got in a rhythm and was kind of just throwing. Maybe not trying to compete as hard as I can, but maybe I could’ve done something differently with the outcome. Got to get better.”

Chandler will get better. Pirates manager Don Kelly is sure of that.

“Baseball is a tough game to play in general, especially here at the major league level,” Kelly said. “Just challenging the guys to always continue learning, how can you make adjustments, how can you get better? I know the competitor that Bubba is. He’s going to be back to the drawing board with (pitching coach) Oscar (Marin) and the pitching group, refining some things. He’ll be ready to go next time he’s out there.”

Chandler has talent and makeup, so he’ll be just fine. Comparing him to Skenes, though, is unfair.