Braxton Ashcraft is aiming to join the Pittsburgh Pirates rotation and hopes to join immediately next season. For now, the 25-year-old right-hander used impressive numbers with caution during his first taste challenge. Ashcraft has made 23 appearances since its debut in late May – with all but six games in the bullpen, there were 2.47 ERAs, while 2.47 ERAs and 2.85 FIPs exceeded 58 1/3 innings. Additionally, he allowed only 49 hits, with only two leaving the yard.
His lack of durability was the reason for his prudence. When our 2025 Pirates’ top prospect list emerged in the spring – Ashcraft didn’t. 2 With 50 fv – Eric Longenhagen wrote: “Because of his history and the violent nature of childbirth, the harm is an inevitable aspect of Ashcraft’s image.” In 2018, Waco, who was at Robinson High School in Texas, ranked 51st, threw just 235 innings in the year, including a career-high 73 frames a year ago. Among minors, his time can reach up to 106 2/3 of the current campaign.
His stuff is obviously added, not only because his heaters average 96.9 miles per hour. The best thing about Ashcraft’s five-pitch high school is his slider, which he put in 32.6% of the time to allow for a .202 hit average and a 30.7% WHIFF rate. Delivered at 91.8 mph, our leading prospect analysts appropriately call it the bread and butter of the talented young liner.
Ashcraft discussed his tracks, including the angle that made his court so effective when the Pirates visited Fenway Park in late August.
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David Laurila: When I talked to him in February, Bubba Chandler said you and him are similar in some ways. do you agree?
Braxton Ashcraft: “In a lot of ways, yes. I think what drives a lot of our success is the use of the number. His fastball differs a lot from mine in terms of the perception of the batsman; his expansion is longer than mine, obviously, the Velo is higher. The Velo is higher. The velt is higher. It’s a different fastball, a very unique fastball.
“My fastball depends more on where I am, and batsmen with four contacts and two seams have to deliver on two different pitch shapes. So, in this regard, we are different. Unless anything, we can take advantage of the quantity, get a 1-1 victory, win a 1-1 victory, win a 1-1 victory, win a 1-1 victory, and generally win a lot of success for us.
“My curve ball and slider – I think he’ll prove it too – a little bit…I won’t say it’s better, but it’s more stereotypical. It’s because of the angles I create. In terms of indicators, our sliders are actually very similar, but the angles I create are unique, what everyone is doing, and there’s little to have in his view on the hit, which is a pretty similar thing. The curves at the top and the height of release, my curves are moving more.
Laurila: Especially for your track, the better the pitch of your two-person or four-seller?
Ashcraft: “It depends on the day. It also depends on what the batsman is asking. If I face a lineup with a lot of left-handed stacking, I won’t say…I won’t say ‘don’t say’ two slit ground balls.
Laurila: Are you your two countertops, or are they more like sinking tablets?
Ashcraft: “Probably more like a sinker. It’s almost exactly the reverse side of my four-slit on the indicator. My four-slit has 18-inch rides and nine-inch horizontal movement. The sinker, pendant, two seams – whatever you want to call it, is almost the countdown to it.
Laurila: What is your best course?
Ashcraft: “Slider. It’s not the craziest metric pitch you’ve ever seen. It might be more like a cutter, but the angle I created (again, my release height and height crossfire) – it has a hard-to-turn feel, even if it’s really more like a gyroscope or cutter or cutter.”
Laurila: When did you understand the “why” of its effectiveness?
Ashcraft: “I had Tommy John John’s surgery in 2021 and throughout the recovery I revolved around some people in the game for a long time. From them, I started to get a better idea of why the court was playing their role and how to use that to maximize what I had with baseball.
“I’m athletic person, and I’m not trying to force myself into some mechanical thinking process. I’m going to get my body stacked and do what I want to do to make myself able to throw a baseball hard, repeatedly, and effectively. In doing so, my arms climbed a little and I started to hit a super footstep. From there, it’s a super footstep than it is. The third base.”
Laurila: All this happened when you came back from TJ?
Ashcraft: “Yes, when I was recovering for my elbow. The other part of it was a shoulder injury in 2019 – my left shoulder was fixed – I was really in a sling. I was really spinning because my left arm couldn’t be higher than my left arm than [the shoulder]. I got the solution and we lost to 2020, but I started to figure out something. Velo jumped a little. Then, I tore my meniscus to my right knee. I made good progress in 2021, but then it exploded. Thus, become healthy, mature and able to create gradual progress in leverage in different positions in more compact positions.
“After TJ’s recovery, through the physical maturity process, I got stronger, bigger, heavier. I started to create more power by keeping it tighter directly. I just closed a little bit, I was hanging a little bit, just around the front legs. That’s where my arms stacked and created the angle.”
