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Jun 1, 2025; San Diego, California, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates relief pitcher Braxton Ashcraft (67) throws a pitch during the eighth inning against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: David Frerker-Imagn Images David Frerker-Imagn Images

Pirates Rookie Continues Great Start

Originally posted on Pittsburgh Pirates on SI
By Dominic Campbell | Last updated Jun 5, 2025 7:00 AM ET

PITTSBURGH — A Pittsburgh Pirates rookie is having a good beginning to their first season in the MLB, showing he belongs at the top level.

Right-handed pitcher Braxton Ashcraft came in for a relief appearance against the Houston Astros on June 4, holding a three-run lead at the top of the seventh inning.

Ashcraft would get a flyout, but then allowed a single to Astros center fielder Jake Myers, giving the road team a chance to start their comeback.

He instead locked in and got back-to-back strikeouts of right fielder Cam Smith and left fielder Jake Melton on just seven pitches to shutdown the inning.

Ashcraft only threw 11 pitches in the top of the eighth inning, but got three outs, fly outs from shortstop Jeremy Peña and second baseman Jose Altuve, plus another strikeout, taking down third baseman Isaac Paredes.

He finished the outing with 32 pitches and 21 strikes, with three strikeouts and just one hit allowed in the 3-0 win over the Astros.

Ashcraft relied mostly on his slider, throwing it 12 times, but mixed up his approach, throwing the four-seam fastball seven times, the sinker and curveball both five times each and the changeup three times.

The Pirates took Ashcraft out of Robinson High School in Waco, Texas the second round of the 2018 MLB Draft, and he has spent almost all of that time in the minor leagues.

He didn't receive his MLB call-up until May 26, due to a series of injuries that delayed his progress.

Ashcraft also spent all of his time as a starter, including 10 starts with Triple-A Indianapolis before making it to the MLB level this season.

Despite the role change, Ashcraft still keeps the same mentality when the takes the mound, as the goal is always the same: get the batter out.

“This is our job, and our job is to ultimately get outs, whether it’s in the first inning or the sixth or the eighth, whatever it is," Ashcraft said. "At the end of the day, it doesn't matter what inning I go in the game and it doesn’t matter what role I have, when I step on the mound, it’s time to get outs. The game doesn’t change. The only thing that changes is how you come into the game. I haven’t come in with runners on base yet, but even that doesn’t change."

"I think the priority goes up a little bit whenever it’s somebody else’s runners and somebody else’s runs at stake, there’s a little bit of a different level of focus there. Again, I haven’t encountered that, but I anticipate the level of focus to be a little bit higher in that situation. At the end of the day, our job is to get outs as pitchers and that’s what my focus is.”

Ashcraft is relishing his opportunties out of the bullpen and it showed in his prior two appearances before this game.

He made his MLB debut vs. the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on May 26, throwing three scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and a walk and striking out center fielder Tim Tawa in the 5-0 shutout loss.

Ashcraft also threw a scoreless eighth inning vs. the San Diego Padres at Petco Park on June, striking out two batters in the 6-4 defeat.

This was the first game he got the chance to pitch with a lead and knew the importance, shutting the Astros offense down in the victory for the Pirates.

“Yeah, if you’re coming out of the pen, that’s where you want to be," Ashcraft said. "You want to be in a situation where every single pitch counts a little bit more. My whole career as a starter, you know what your role is and it’s to get as deep into the game as you can with as little runs as you can."

"But, in that situation in a 3-0 game, every single run, every single pitch and every single at-bat counts a little bit more. There’s not many innings to make up ground, so it was a cool situation to be put into, especially in my third outing in the big leagues. It’s something I don’t necessarily recognize at that time, it’s just we’re going out to get outs and get them as efficiently as we can so we can go as many innings as I can.”

Ashcraft has also enjoyed pitching for new Pirates manager Don Kelly, but is still focused on doing anything he can to help the Pirates win.

"When you do certain things well, you get more opportunities," Ashcraft said. "That goes with anything, whether it's baseball, work, life, anything. My focus is going out and doing my job to the best of my ability. With that, opportunity comes. That's what our goal is. It doesn't matter if you're a pitcher or a position player. Our job is to do this to the best of our ability. With that comes more responsibility, and that's something I enjoy. That's part of the game."

"Any opportunity to help this team win is something that I enjoy being able to do. So, yeah, I mean it is nice to recognize they have this confidence in me. But at the end of the day, the job is to help the team win, and that's what I'm focused on."

This was also the first appearance for Ashcraft at PNC Park, giving him the experience of pitching in front of the home fans for the first time and what he hopes is one of many to come.

"It's a long run," Ashcraft said. "I was kinda begging for him to check me, but it was cool running in and seeing the fans, going up to the mound and doing what we do. This is a really cool job that we have. I've been just trying to soak up every second of it, soak up every second of every stadium that we're in. Like I said, this is the most fun I've ever had playing baseball. I've had a lot of fun with these guys. It's a good environment and it's really fun to win."

This article first appeared on Pittsburgh Pirates on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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