PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates got a great pitching performance from a rookie making his MLB debut, in their latest game vs. the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field.
Right-handed pitcher Braxton Ashcraft came in relief for left-handed starting pitcher Andrew Heaney, who struggled in his outing, giving up two home runs and five earned runs in five innings.
Ashcraft, who normally starts games, came out of the bullpen in the sixth inning, as the Pirates needed someone to stop a strong Diamondbacks’ offense.
He did just that, throwing three scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and a walk and striking out Diamondbacks center fielder Tim Tawa in a strong first showing for the young pitcher.
Ashcraft threw 50 pitches, 32 for strikes, and mostly relied on his slider, which he threw three straight times to strikeout Tawa.
He threw the slider 24 times, his four-seam fastball 14 times, the curveball 10 times and then both the sinker and the changeup once.
Ashcraft will continue pitching out of the bullpen, according to Pirates manager Don Kelly, which is a chance from how he pitched in the minors, with only two appearances out of the bullpen prior.
He started 10 games this season for Triple-A Indianapolis, with a 3-3 record, a 5.03 ERA over 48.1 innings pitched, 56 strikeouts to 19 walks and an opposing batting average of .277.
Ashcraft has waited a long time for this moment, as the Pirates took him out of Robinson High School in Waco, Texas in the second round of the 2018 MLB Draft. He signed for $1.825 million, forgoing his commitment to Baylor.
Injuries also plagued Ashcraft, which kept him from making his MLB Debut until he was 25 years old.
Ashcraft underwent a latarjet procedure on his right shoulder in 2019, which involves a bone graft and tendon transfer, suffered a torn meniscus after knee problems in 2020 and underwent Tommy John surgery after just 10 starts with High-A Greensboro in 2021.
He didn’t come back to pitching again until 2023 and eventually made it to Double-A Altoona. He would pitch for Indianapolis in June 2024, before again dealing with an injury, as he pitched just five games the rest of the season.
Ashcraft is a part of a Pirates bullpen that consists of fellow right-handed pitchers in David Bednar, Tanner Rainey, Dennis Santana and Chase Shugart, plus left-handed pitchers in Ryan Borucki, Caleb Ferguson and Joey Wentz.
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