Could Pirates Pitcher Braxton Ashcraft Succeed In Rotation?

The Pittsburgh Pirates gave the ball to rookie right-hander Braxton Ashcraft for his first career start on Monday. Ashcraft had pitched out of the bullpen previously and embraced the role, registering a 1.54 ERA over seven relief appearances.

Ashcraft came up as a starter, but was promoted to pitch out of the bullpen. Due to some rainouts and delays, the Pirates were playing their sixth game in five days on Monday, and elected to go with a bullpen game to help reset the rotation. Ashcraft started the game against the Milwaukee Brewers and impressed in his limited role, throwing three scoreless innings while allowing just one hit.

Ashcraft came into the outing with a clear approach and executed that plan precisely. He threw high fastballs, breaking balls to the glove side, and jammed righties inside with his sinker. Ashcraft is just 25 years old and has time to develop his arsenal, but he looked the part of a starting pitcher on Monday.

His curveball and slider, in particular, were both excellent. He used the slider, primarily against right-handed hitters, to end at-bats by throwing it on the outside edge. His curveball didn’t return any whiffs, but he was able to flip it in the zone to steal called strikes.

His four-seam fastball is one area he could look to improve. The velocity is excellent at 97 mph, but the movement lies in the “dead zone”, meaning he doesn’t create unexpected movement given his arm slot. This, among other things, might be causing Ashcraft to miss fewer bats. He also might benefit from throwing his four-seam to the top of the zone more. He kept the ball up well on Monday, but has left it down frequently in other appearances. Nevertheless, the young pitcher was impressive.

After the game, he was asked about his first career start and was grateful for the opportunity.

“Getting the opportunity that I’ve wanted for a long time, to start a game, to help our rotation out,” Ashcraft said. “Just being able to go out and cover three scoreless, it’s fun.”

The Pirates took down the Brewers to open the series by a score of 5-4.

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