Braxton Ashcraft is moving up. On Sunday, MLB.com’s Alex Stumpf reported that Ashcraft is being promoted to Triple-A Indianapolis by the Pirates.
Sources: Pirates are promoting RHP Braxton Ashcraft to AAA Indianapolis. Ashcraft, the team’s No. 6 prospect per @MLBPipeline, is coming off a 12 strikeout game and has a 1.89 ERA over his last six starts
— Alex Stumpf (@AlexJStumpf) June 10, 2024
On Thursday, Ashcraft pitched seven innings for Altoona, allowing four runs, with 12 strikeouts and zero walks. This was the second double-digit strikeout game for the right-hander in the last month. Since throwing five shutout innings on May 8th, Ashcraft has a 1.89 ERA in 33.1 innings, with a 46:6 K/BB ratio.
The Pirates drafted Ashcraft in the second round in 2018, giving him an over-slot bonus to sign out of Robinson High in Washington. He pitched in short-season ball in 2019, but was delayed for two years like everyone else with the pandemic in 2020. Ashcraft then went down with Tommy John in 2021, delaying him another two years. He returned last year, and looked much improved after the surgery.
Ashcraft has continued his improvements this year, and currently looks like the best prospect in the minors who can help the Pirates in the big leagues this year. His fastball gets up to the upper 90s, sitting mid-90s. He pairs that with a slider that is a plus offering, and a curveball that also gets swing and miss. He’s also been working on a changeup this year, after scraping his old pitch during the Tommy John recovery.
The fastball/slider combo would be enough for Ashcraft to pitch in the big leagues today in a relief role. With the way he’s been working as a starter, it makes more sense to keep him stretched out. With the rotation depth dwindling, Ashcraft looks like one of the best short-term rotation depth options the Pirates have right now.
The Pirates are currently going with a bullpen mix to replace the injured Quinn Priester. The move of Ashcraft to Triple-A gets him closer to the majors, while allowing him to face a higher level of competition. This should be better practice to prepare him, should the Pirates need him this year.
Pirates Lose in Extras
The Pirates lost 11-5 on Sunday, with Ben Heller giving up seven runs in the top of the 10th inning. The game wasn’t as bad as the final score, with a lot of good trends continuing.
Rowdy Tellez continued hitting, going 2-for-3 with a double and a walk.
Nick Gonzales continued hitting, going 2-for-5 to give him a .310 average and an .845 OPS.
Jared Jones allowed three runs, two earned, in five innings. He was also hurt by a horrible passed ball call in the first inning. With Byron Buxton at the plate and two outs, Jones threw a pitch that hit Buxton’s bat on a check swing. The umpires on the field missed the call, thinking the ball hit the glove of Henry Davis before deflecting to the backstop. The play wasn’t reviewable, and a run scored that ultimately made the difference.
The Pirates scored three runs in the fifth to take a lead, but Kyle Nicolas allowed a run in the sixth, dealing with control issues from his upper-90s stuff.
Monday is an off-day for the Pirates. They take on the Cardinals on the road for three games starting Tuesday, followed by three more games on the road in Colorado to end the week.
Minor League Results
The Pirates had two of their top pitching prospects going in Altoona on Sunday, with Anthony Solometo and Bubba Chandler combining for five innings. Read about their performance and latest developments in the Pirates Prospect Watch.
Pirates Prospect Watch: The Development of Anthony Solometo and Bubba Chandler
If you missed it on Sunday, I broke down the best prospects the Pirates have at the rookie ball levels. Those players are the only ones in action in the Pirates’ system on Monday.
