PIRATES

It was this exact day one year ago when Braxton Ashcraft debuted for the Pirates, tossing three scoreless innings in relief against the Diamondbacks at Chase Field. 

A lot has changed since then. Ashcraft is still producing at a high level, but he's doing so in a more prominent role and with a whole year of experience under his belt. 

"He’s shown a lot," Don Kelly said following the Pirates' 12-1 rout of the Cubs here tonight at PNC Park. "To come up in a bulk role in the ‘pen, close a game against the Phillies, start games, back to the bullpen, back to starting, and then to come into the year this year fighting for a spot in the rotation in the spring, then to earn one and run with it the way that he has, he continues to get better. The stuff has gotten better and the execution – pitching in the strike zone, getting the swing and miss, getting ahead. He’s really, even today, was extremely efficient.”

Ashcraft celebrated his one-year major-league anniversary in style by producing efficient, quality innings, something he's managed to do all season long. Making his 11th start of the year, Ashcraft allowed one run on seven hits over 6 1/3 innings, his fifth straight start of six-plus, to push his season total to 68 2/3, the sixth-highest mark in Major League Baseball. He walked one and struck out five en route to lowering his season ERA to 2.75, a figure that ranks 14th among all qualified pitchers in MLB. 

“It’s a lot easier to pitch when you’re pitching ahead," said Ashcraft, who gave up a second-inning run on an Ian Happ double before escaping multiple jams, including one with the bases loaded in the sixth inning. "That’s been a big point of emphasis throughout my whole career, when I got drafted to when I was back playing little league. Getting ahead, staying ahead, that’s a huge point of emphasis. Just proud of the way we were able to get ahead tonight.”

Ashcraft has put together strong results in multiple roles over the last year. In fact, he entered today's game with MLB's sixth-lowest ERA (2.80) among pitchers with a minimum of 130 innings pitched since making his debut. He trailed only Philadelphia's Cristopher Sánchez (2.00), Paul Skenes (2.16), Detroit's Tarik Skubal (2.22), New York (AL)'s Cam Schlittler (2.27) and Houston's Hunter Brown (2.48) on that list.

There's been obvious improvement as far as consistency is concerned, especially when it comes to maintaining velocity, perfecting his offerings and filling up the strike zone on a steady basis. Ashcraft has certainly learned a lot over this last year, but he wasn't putting too much thought into it being one year since he debuted at this level. He said it's nice looking back on it, reflecting on the work he's put in, and the success he's had. But he treated this start the same way he treated the 36 appearances that preceded it. 

“The guys behind the plate, the guys on the field, the staff that we have here, make it really easy to have success," Ashcraft said. "It’s cool to look back and be thankful for it, but still looking forward to the rest of the year.”