The Pirates were in a tough situation today with Carmen Mlodzinski unavailable after being placed on the Major League Baseball restricted list and having had two short starts tax the bullpen to begin the series. The team received exactly what it needed from Braxton Ashcraft in their 9-3 win to sweep the Twins today here at PNC Park.
Ashcraft tossed six innings, allowing two earned runs on five hits with no walks and a career-high 11 strikeouts, becoming the first Pirate and one of 11 major-leaguers during the Modern Era (since 1901) with at least 11 strikeouts and zero walks issued in an outing of 80 or fewer pitches. That was last done by Tampa Bay’s Ryan Pepiot on Sept. 18, 2024 vs. Boston. Talk about a much-needed boost.
All day long, the Twins couldn't get a read on Ashcraft as he was able to generate 24 whiffs on 51 swings. His curveball was especially valuable in that regard, as he missed bats on 9 of 14 swings. Still, Ashcraft wasn't pleased with the pitch, which might explain why he only threw it 19 times for the game.
"I threw the best one of my life in the first inning and then kind of completely lost it throughout the outing," Ashcraft said. "That was a little frustrating, but I found a way to lean on other stuff and make some pitches and make a win.”
While Ashcraft didn't like the curveball, Don Kelly was pleased with his overall performance.
"Curveball, fastball, slider… threw some changeups in there, too,” Kelly said. “And I thought command, efficiency, just thought he threw the ball extremely well."
What benefits Ashcraft is his ability to mix all of his pitches for strikes by tunneling them with the same release point, which creates an advantage when both the slider and curveball can work off the four-seam fastball.
"I think it’s just depth," Ashcraft said. "A lot of my arsenal is, I’d like to say, fastball, or the four-seam curveball, but it’s nice to be able to go vertical and horizontal and being able to kind of lean on both of those things, whether it’s the curveball or the slider, being able to pitch vertically or horizontally in any moment is really nice and it adds a layer."
Derek Shelton didn’t get to manage Ashcraft at the major-league level, but he was quite complimentary of a guy who has put up these numbers over 12 starts this season: 4-2 record, 74 2/3 IP (fifth in MLB), 81 strikeouts (tied for sixth), 2.77 ERA (12th), and 1.03 WHIP (16th).
“We got pitched to a little bit,” Shelton said. “If you like pitching, that kid’s got a really good arm in Ashcraft.”
Ashcraft’s numbers speak for themselves. He’s performing as well as the elite pitchers in MLB, including his Cy Young Award-winning teammate in Paul Skenes. And it’s certainly not going unnoticed.
"I can’t say enough good things about Braxton,” RyanO'Hearn said. "He’s been elite this year. Really happy for him, proud of him. You see the stuff. He’s really good. Need him to keep doing what he’s doing."
THE ASYLUM
Ashcraft reaching 'elite' status
The Pirates were in a tough situation today with Carmen Mlodzinski unavailable after being placed on the Major League Baseball restricted list and having had two short starts tax the bullpen to begin the series. The team received exactly what it needed from Braxton Ashcraft in their 9-3 win to sweep the Twins today here at PNC Park.
Ashcraft tossed six innings, allowing two earned runs on five hits with no walks and a career-high 11 strikeouts, becoming the first Pirate and one of 11 major-leaguers during the Modern Era (since 1901) with at least 11 strikeouts and zero walks issued in an outing of 80 or fewer pitches. That was last done by Tampa Bay’s Ryan Pepiot on Sept. 18, 2024 vs. Boston. Talk about a much-needed boost.
All day long, the Twins couldn't get a read on Ashcraft as he was able to generate 24 whiffs on 51 swings. His curveball was especially valuable in that regard, as he missed bats on 9 of 14 swings. Still, Ashcraft wasn't pleased with the pitch, which might explain why he only threw it 19 times for the game.
"I threw the best one of my life in the first inning and then kind of completely lost it throughout the outing," Ashcraft said. "That was a little frustrating, but I found a way to lean on other stuff and make some pitches and make a win.”
While Ashcraft didn't like the curveball, Don Kelly was pleased with his overall performance.
"Curveball, fastball, slider… threw some changeups in there, too,” Kelly said. “And I thought command, efficiency, just thought he threw the ball extremely well."
What benefits Ashcraft is his ability to mix all of his pitches for strikes by tunneling them with the same release point, which creates an advantage when both the slider and curveball can work off the four-seam fastball.
"I think it’s just depth," Ashcraft said. "A lot of my arsenal is, I’d like to say, fastball, or the four-seam curveball, but it’s nice to be able to go vertical and horizontal and being able to kind of lean on both of those things, whether it’s the curveball or the slider, being able to pitch vertically or horizontally in any moment is really nice and it adds a layer."
Derek Shelton didn’t get to manage Ashcraft at the major-league level, but he was quite complimentary of a guy who has put up these numbers over 12 starts this season: 4-2 record, 74 2/3 IP (fifth in MLB), 81 strikeouts (tied for sixth), 2.77 ERA (12th), and 1.03 WHIP (16th).
“We got pitched to a little bit,” Shelton said. “If you like pitching, that kid’s got a really good arm in Ashcraft.”
Ashcraft’s numbers speak for themselves. He’s performing as well as the elite pitchers in MLB, including his Cy Young Award-winning teammate in Paul Skenes. And it’s certainly not going unnoticed.
"I can’t say enough good things about Braxton,” Ryan O'Hearn said. "He’s been elite this year. Really happy for him, proud of him. You see the stuff. He’s really good. Need him to keep doing what he’s doing."
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