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Braxton Ashcraft throws a pitch in the first inning of Monday night's game in Milwaukee.

Over the last year, Miguel Perez has had a front-row seat in watching Braxton Ashcraft transition from being a solid minor-league starter to a dependable relief arm. 

Ashcraft made five appearances and four starts for Perez's Class AAA Indianapolis team last season, proving he was capable of serving in a starting role at the higher minor-league levels. Now, Perez is the Pirates' bullpen coach, and he's been able to watch as Ashcraft has evolved into a capable big-league reliever, one who approaches every opportunity with a fearless mentality on the mound. 

“He’s a guy who is going to take the ball at any time," Perez told me Monday afternoon. "One thing about him is he’s just fearless. He just goes on the mound and is going to go with the stuff that he has, his strengths. That’s what he does best. He has great stuff, but with the mentality he has on the mound, it’s one of those things where, as a hitter, you don’t want to face him." 

Ashcraft, a former top-100 prospect who still ranks as the Pirates' No. 7 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, has the tools to be successful at the major-league level. He's already shown it over his first seven appearances. On Monday, he returned to a familiar role as a starter and once again produced quality results in making his first big-league start in the Pirates' 5-4 win over the Brewers at American Family Field. 

Without fear, Ashcraft navigated through a relatively stellar Brewers lineup that has produced the 10th-most runs (366) in Major League Baseball this season. Instead of working around guys and finding himself in deep counts, Ashcraft challenged just about every hitter he faced by pounding the strike zone with his slider, four-seam fastball, sinker and curveball. Even the pitches he missed with were close, presenting him with opportunities to fool hitters out of the zone. 

"That's the only way you can be successful in this game, in my opinion. It's the only way that I can be successful," Ashcraft said. "I don't think that this is a game where you can be successful being scared. Like I said, hitting is really dadgum hard. So, using that to our advantage as pitchers, just filling up the zone and letting guys get themselves out, and I'll take the strikeouts when they come." 

Ultimately, Ashcraft tossed three scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out two while throwing 28 of his 35 pitches for strikes. The at-bats that resulted in Ashcraft's two strikeouts perfectly encapsulated the way in which he operated. 

Ashcraft got behind Bryce Turang to begin the second inning before hitting the zone with three straight pitches: A curveball at the bottom of the zone that was taken for strike one, a four-seam on the inner third that was fouled off and this 97 mph heater at the bottom of the zone that Turang swung through: 

Then, after Ashcraft got Isaac Collins to roll into a 4-3 groundout, there was the 10-pitch battle against Caleb Durbin. Ashcraft threw a few of his breaking pitches out of the zone to try and get Durbin to chase after getting ahead 0-2. But after the count reached even at 2-2, Ashcraft continued to attack the zone, forcing Durbin to foul off four straight pitches. Another breaking ball missed to make it 3-2 before Ashcraft finally put the finishing touches on a 1-2-3 second inning by inducing a whiff on a slider down in the zone: 

Ashcraft's willingness to attack, and the relentlessness he showed in that latter at-bat, led to him getting the results he wanted. The former also led to the type of efficiency that allowed Ashcraft to extend his outing past the second inning. Don Kelly wasn't going to let him go any deeper than the three considering he threw 40 pitches over two innings in relief against the Rangers on Friday.

"The poise, the command, the attack, and he had two days off going into this one," Kelly said. "Threw 40 pitches in two innings the other day, two days off and comes out and throws the ball like that in his first start. It was really impressive."

Ashcraft remains in the bullpen for now, but Kelly said pregame that a future starting opportunity isn't off the table. He certainly made his case for consideration tonight, and has proven capable of providing value in multiple roles since joining the big-league club on May 26. Ashcraft has now made eight appearances in a Pirates uniform, allowing just two runs on 10 hits over 14 2/3 innings. He's struck out 12 batters and walked six, proving that he belongs, regardless of his role. 

"A starter has a different routine than a reliever and he adjusted right away," Perez said. "There hasn’t been any moment where we’ve been like, ‘OK, we have to give him more time.’ He adjusted to that right away. It doesn’t surprise me at all because of who he is. Just the time I’ve been around him, it’s fun to watch him pitch.”