Braxton Ashcraft has quietly joined elite National League company for the Pirates

Everyone knows how good the Pittsburgh Pirates' stable of young pitching is. Paul Skenes is a generational hurler who already has a Cy Young Award to his name at 24 years old. Jared Jones is a flamethrowing righty who is still getting his feet back under him after a year-long hiatus due to injury. Bubba Chandler was a consensus top-10 overall prospect who flashes elite stuff and a deep repertoire.

And yet, the most impressive pitcher of the bunch may be Braxton Ashcraft. Unlike that trio, he was never considered a top-100 prospect by any outlet, often appearing at the back-end of Pirates top 10 lists. An older prospect who took years to climb the minor-league ladder, most assumed his upside was limited compared to the rest of the organization's fireballers.

So much for that idea. Since making his MLB debut last May, Ashcraft has pitched to a 2.98 ERA over 160.1 innings, joining some elite company that includes his own teammate in Skenes.

Braxton Ashcraft is already one of the best pitchers in baseball and the Pirates' No. 2 starter

By fWAR, Ashcraft is tied with Chase Burns for the ninth-best total among all pitchers this season at 2.5. In fact, he's only trailing Skenes by 0.1 for a share of fifth place. That's how good he's been in his sophomore season.

The other numbers are just as impressive: A 3.18 ERA, 3.04 FIP, 26.3% strikeout rate, 6.0% walk rate, and average of more than six innings per start are strong data points in favor of calling him a frontline starting pitcher. While one would expect Chandler (4.62 ERA) and Jones (5.75 ERA) to figure things out in the big leagues, there's no denying that, right now, Ashcraft is Skenes' right-hand man in Pittsburgh.

Amazingly, the results are only more impressive the deeper you dig. Ashcraft has combined an elite ability to induce swings outside the zone (i.e., chases) with a refusal to issue free passes, making him one of the most dominant pitchers in the league in terms of using location to his advantage. About the only knock on his profile this year is a subpar allowance of hard hit balls, though his success in that department last year suggests he can clean up that issue with time.

While it'd be unrealstic to put him in Cy Young contender conversations already, that's the type of company Ashcraft is inviting unto himself with his incredible first year in the majors. He's hardly the source most expected, but it appears the Pirates have already found Skenes' long-term co-ace.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow