In the System: What would you do if facing Chandler's choice?

ALTOONA, Pa. -- You see what Shohei Ohtani is doing -- which seems impossible -- and it's hard not to wonder if anyone else could ever pull it off. Since, you know, it's been roughly a century since anyone else in Major League Baseball did it successfully.

Pitch or hit? Hit or pitch? Hey, why not both?

Bubba Chandler is trying the both approach, as the 19-year-old is pitching and hitting for the rookie-level Florida Complex League Pirates in Bradenton, Fla. The ultra-talented young man already made one difficult decision when he chose to play professional baseball over playing quarterback at Clemson, and at some point in his baseball career, he'll likely have to choose one over the other -- pitching or hitting.

As a fun aside, we're asking two questions of you, our readers, this week:

1. If you could choose to play professional baseball or be quarterback for a major college program, which path would you take?

2. In baseball, if you could be a pitcher or position player, which would you prefer?

You can post your answers and debate the pros and cons in the comments section.

Most Pirates fans know Chandler's story. He was a quarterback committed to Clemson, but the Pirates drafted him in the third round in 2021 and enticed him to play pro baseball with an over-slot signing bonus of $3 million.

Chandler wants to pitch -- which is where most insiders expect him to have the most success -- but also wants to keep playing the middle infield and develop as a hitter. You can watch this great interview below of him discussing all of this with DKPS and others in Bradenton last November:

Look, it makes sense that anyone who's been a good position player and hitter all of his life would want to keep trying that as long as possible, even in pro ball while also developing as a pitcher. But the reality is that it's extremely, extremely difficult to be good in both areas as a two-way player, so ultimately, a choice will have to be made.

Why? Because most organizations simply won't allow for the player to continue be a two-way guy, since eventually he will begin to struggle in one area, and it inevitably will be blamed on him trying to do too much.

In Chandler's case, he seems to have a chance to become an elite pitching prospect. So far with the Florida Complex League Pirates, he's yet to allow a run in the first eight innings of his pro career.

But he's also already hit a couple of home runs and a triple in 14 at-bats, so there's a lot to be excited about there, as well.

Personally, if given the choice to be a pitcher or position player, I'd take the latter in a heartbeat. It would be more fun to play every day than to sit around waiting to pitch once every five days.

But pragmatically, it's probably easier to make it to the majors and stay there as a pitcher than as a position player, so if a guy is good in both areas, you'd think the wise choice would be to stick with pitching.

Now, as for the decision to play pro baseball or go be a college quarterback, that comes with a lot of factors.

Chandler got $3 million to sign with the Pirates. Ummm, that would make the decision a heck of a lot easier for just about anyone.

But Chandler was not necessarily considered an elite, can't-miss quarterback. He was a 3-star prospect and the No. 34 QB recruit in the nation coming out of high school, and while yes he was going to Clemson, there's no guarantee he ever would have become the starter there.

Had he been a 5-star QB prospect with a multi-million dollar NIL deal waiting for him at an elite school such as Clemson, that could have made the decision much more difficult. And again, with NIL, players now can make a lot of money while in college, so something like a $3 million signing bonus with a baseball team might not actually be enough to sway an elite quarterback prospect to give up college football these days.

“I knew what I wanted in my head,” Chandler told the Pittsburgh media after signing with the Pirates. “I love Clemson. That’s a place one day I hope I can move a family to. It’s a top-notch place, but you’ve got to let stuff go, and I felt like I needed to let it go to better myself and my career in this sport, so that’s what I did.”

His baseball career is now in full swing, plus he got his money, so Chandler can now concentrate on becoming the best ballplayer he can be -- as a pitcher, a hitter or both.

And hey, if baseball doesn't work over the next 4-5 years, Chandler still could conceivably give college football a try at 23-24 years old, as other minor leaguers have done in the past.

TOP 10 PROSPECTS

This is the new DKPS top-10 ranking of the Pirates' prospects, as selected -- and debated -- by our baseball staff of Alex Stumpf, Chris Halicke, Jarrod Prugar and myself. 

Each week, we'll move players up and down as warranted, though the final ranking's always intended to reflect the overarching potential for their performance upon arriving in Pittsburgh, rather than being a short-term hot/cold list.  Also, if they're in the majors, even on an emergency basis, they won't be on this list. It's for players in the minors.

Not much movement this week. We also have one new addition (No. 10) and explain why he wasn't previously on the list.

1. HENRY DAVIS (1)

Position: Catcher
Affiliate: Class AA Altoona
Acquired: Pirates' first-round pick, 2021
Age: 22
Stats: .284/.416/.515, 7 HR, 29 RBIs

He started off 3-for-35 with Class AA Altoona but bounced back with a nice stretch to close the first half of the Eastern League schedule. He had two hits in each of his past three games, including one home run, three doubles and five RBIs. That bumped his average with the Curve up more than 100 points to .190. And good news -- he was only hit by a pitch one time last week! Davis and Altoona return home Tuesday for a week-long series in case any Pittsburgh-area folks are looking to head over to watch him play.

2. MIKE BURROWS (2)

Position: Right-handed pitcher
Affiliate: Class AAA Indianapolis
Acquired: Pirates' 11th-round pick, 2018
Age: 22
Stats: 4-2, 3.03 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 77 K, 19 BB

He made his second start for Indy on Saturday and allowed one run on five hits in 4.1 IP with four strikeouts and no walks. He hasn't walked a batter in his last three starts, spanning 8.2 IP, while striking out 11. The Pirates took a bit of a chance moving him up after only 12 starts in Class AA, but he has shown them he was worthy of the promotion and continues to impress. Which leads to this interesting thought by our own Alex Stumpf:

3. LIOVER PEGUERO (3)

Position: Shortstop
Affiliate: Class AA Altoona
Acquired: Trade with Diamondbacks, 2020
Age: 21
Stats: .289/.315/.454, 5 HRs, 33 RBIs

He reached base in eight straight games recently, batting .294 (10-for-34). His power production has stalled after a strong start, with just one homer and three RBIs in June. He's also batting just .241 this month. He'll need to start producing a bit more to hold onto this spot over the pitcher currently at No. 4.

4. QUINN PRIESTER (4)

Position: Right-handed pitcher
Affiliate: Class AA Altoona
Acquired: Pirates' first-round pick, 2019
Age: 21
Stats: 0-0, 4.97 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 12 K, 3 BB

He made one start last week for Altoona, giving up two runs on six hits over four innings with five strikeouts and two walks. The four innings part is good, as he's getting built back up after missing two months with an oblique injury. We'll see if he's extended to five innings in his next start this week for the Curve.

5. NICK GONZALES (5)

Position: Second base
Affiliate: Class AA Altoona
Acquired: Pirates' first-round pick, 2020
Age: 23
Stats: .247/.366/.377, 4 HR, 15 RBIs

He's on the 60-day injured list with a heel injury. MLB.com reported it to be plantar fasciitis in his right foot, which will require him to be in a walking boot for 2-4 weeks. He won't be able to return to action until at least early August.

6. ANTHONY SOLOMETO (6)

Position: Left-handed pitcher
Affiliate: Low Class A Bradenton
Acquired: Pirates' second-round pick, 2021
Age: 19
Stats: 1-0, 2.08 ERA, 1.077 WHIP, 13 K, 5 BB

He went on the injured list a little more than a week ago. Here's what was reported about the injury by The Athletic:

Solometo said he expects to be out for a couple of weeks after he experienced tightness in his lat during his last outing on June 16. The left-hander felt the discomfort in the second inning of his start against Fort Myers (Twins). In the third, he issued a leadoff walk and hit the next batter with a pitch.

“It started getting real tight in there, but there wasn’t sharp pain or anything,” Solometo said. “Then (the tightness) started running through my whole arm. After I hit that batter, I felt the best thing to do was shut it down. It was more of a precautionary thing.”

7. JI-HWAN BAE (8)

Position: Utility
Affiliate: Class AAA Indianapolis
Acquired: International free agent, 2018
Age: 22
Stats: .319/.383/.496, 7 HRs, 37 RBIs

He does nothing but continue to hit. And it's actually hard to believe the Pirates haven't found a spot for him given his production all season. He's batting .363 this month (33-for-91) with two homers, five doubles, a triple, 13 RBIs and a .901 OPS. He also has four straight multi-hit games, going 10-for-17 in that stretch (.588). He's moved up a good bit on our rankings the past few weeks, so clearly the belief here is that he's an outstanding prospect. Gotta think the Pirates will give him a look before too long.

8. ENDY RODRIGUEZ (7)

Position: Utility
Affiliate: High Class A Greensboro
Acquired: Trade with Mets/Padres, 2021
Age: 22
Stats: .257/.344/.440, 7 HRs, 31 RBIs

He's batting just .236 in June, with one homer and 13 RBIs. Here's the honest truth, as I see it, with Rodriguez: He had a great year in 2021 at low-A Bradenton (.294, 15 HRs, 73 RBIs), and that bolstered his prospect status. But all of the key offensive metrics are down this year, and many are down significantly, such as OPS (.892 to .784). Now, he's still a good prospect, but to remain in the top 10 here or anywhere else, the bat has got to come alive more. He is playing several positions aside from just catcher, so versatility will help. But again, we're talking about top 10 prospects here, so he's got to do more at the plate to stay in the rankings.

9. BUBBA CHANDLER (10)

Position: Right-handed pitcher, infielder
Affiliate: Florida Complex League Pirates
Acquired: Pirates' third-round pick, 2021
Age: 19
Pitching stats: 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 1.125 WHIP, 13 K, 6 BB
Hitting stats: .286/.412/.857, 2 HRs, 4 RBIs

Nothing at all wrong with being fascinated by this two-way player. Ride the wave as far as it will take you, young man. Which, the belief here, ultimately will be as a pitcher.

10. TRAVIS SWAGGERTY (NR)

Position: Outfield
Affiliate: Class AAA Indianapolis
Acquired: Pirates' first-round pick, 2018
Age: 24
Stats: .277/.357/.446, 6 HRs, 32 RBIs

OK, so I botched things last week not having Swaggerty ranked after he had come back down from the Pirates. We are keeping these rankings fluid, and anyone who goes up to the big leagues has to come out of our top 10. When we first did our rankings, Swaggerty was in the big leagues, so he wasn't on the initial list and, well, I failed to add him once he got sent back down to Indy. The 2018 first-round pick isn't guaranteed to be a top 10 prospect at this stage six years later, but there's still plenty enough upside to think that he could be a mainstay in Pittsburgh. He has hit safely in 13 of his 15 games in June, batting .316 (18-for-57) with four homers and 16 RBIs. He also reached base in 19 straight games.

HONORABLE MENTION

• Jared Jones: Last week's No. 9, he got dropped because we had to add Swaggerty into the top 10. He ranks third in the South Atlantic League with 86 strikeouts and is 2-3 with a 4.81 ERA in 14 starts.

• Matt Gorski: Look, we may need to start re-evaluating some things here to see about getting Gorski into the top 10. The minor league home run leader with 23, he has impressed since getting called up to Altoona. He's slashing .289/.368/.539 with six homers and 20 RBIs in 28 games for the Curve. Here's more on Gorski in this new feature this week by Alex.

WHAT'S THE POINT?

Lastly this week, check out this score from Monday's Dominican Summer League game involving young prospects from the Pirates and Yankees.

Yikes!

I mean, how and why would such a game continue in rookie ball? Just call it, for goodness sake!