Braxton Ashcraft gets overdue All-Star nod after stunning Pirates snub

After being widely viewed as one of the National League’s biggest snubs when rosters were first announced, Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander Braxton Ashcraft has been named to the MLB All-Star Game as a replacement for fellow starting pitcher Paul Skenes.

MLB announced Tuesday that Ashcraft will take Skenes’ spot in the Midsummer Classic next week at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. It's a fitting outcome, especially after Skenes publicly pushed for it himself.

Skenes said over the weekend that he planned to pitch Tuesday and Sunday for the Pirates, making him unavailable to pitch in the All-Star Game. He used the moment to campaign for one of his teammates as his replacement.

“I would hope that that would open up a spot, and hopefully Braxton takes it,” Skenes told reporters. “I think that’s what should happen.”

Now it has. And for Ashcraft, the opportunity is fully deserved.

Braxton Ashcraft turns breakout Pirates season into well deserved All-Star nod

Make no mistake: Ashcraft’s selection isn't merely a consolation prize for the Pirates. It's an overdue correction.

Among qualified National League pitchers, Ashcraft ranks 11th with a 3.24 ERA. Only seven NL starters have logged more quality starts than his 10, and if he wins his next outing, he could reach 10 victories before the All-Star break, tied for the second-most in the league.

Ashcraft’s 122 strikeouts rank fourth in the National League, and his 2.9 fWAR trails only the Milwaukee Brewers' Jacob Misiorowski and the Philadelphia Phillies' Cristopher Sánchez among NL pitchers.

What has made Ashcraft so effective is how relentlessly he attacks the zone. Through 18 starts, he has thrown 1,603 pitches, 1,109 of them for strikes, good for a 69.1% strike rate. No pitcher in baseball has thrown strikes more frequently. Pair that with a 1.10 WHIP, a .234 opponents’ average and a 37.3% chase rate that ranks in the 97th percentile, and it becomes obvious why hitters have struggled to solve him.

His curveball has been especially dominant, ranking as one of the best breaking balls in baseball by run value. Opponents are hitting just .150 against it with a 40.3% whiff rate.

For Ashcraft, the moment also carries deeper meaning. A second-round pick by the Pirates in 2018, he battled through injuries, including Tommy John surgery in 2021, before finally breaking through last season. Now, after years of setbacks, refinement and patience, he is headed to the All-Star Game.

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