Braxton Ashcraft might be forcing the Pirates' hand with key 2026 decision

Right-handed pitcher Braxton Ashcraft entered 2025 as one of the Pittsburgh Pirates’ top pitching prospects. The former second-round pick has had a long, winding road from getting drafted in 2018 to making his Major League debut.

While Ashcraft originally debuted as a reliever and primarily worked out of the bullpen for his first handful of games (looking like a potential high-leverage option), his last two outings are helping him make a case to be part of the Pirates’ 2026 rotation instead. In fact, he'll start again on Wednesday against the Blue Jays.

Sixteen of Ashcraft’s first 17 Major League appearances came out in relief. He was regularly used for multiple innings at a time, with 33 1/3 frames under his belt. Ashcraft was quite effective in this time, with a 3.24 ERA, 2.90 FIP, and 1.38 WHIP. While he only struck out 19.4% of opponents, he put up a respectable 8.3% walk rate and allowed only a single home run. Ashcraft held opposing batters to just an 88.5 MPH exit velocity and a 4.8% barrel rate.

After trading Bailey Falter at the deadline, a rotation spot opened for the taking. Ashcraft has been slotted into this role for now, and his first two outings as a starter have gone extremely well. It has only been 8 1/3 total innings, but he has not allowed an earned run. He's surrendered one free pass and has struck out nine of 33 opponents he has faced. But there are far more positives than just a strong small sample size of innings.

Braxton Ashcraft is making the best of his chance at a starting rotation spot with Pirates

For one, Ashcraft is maintaining his velocity. During his start on Aug. 15, he was throwing all of his offerings harder than his yearly average. He was sitting at 97.6 MPH with his four-seam fastball, topping out at 98.7 MPH. Another positive is that Ashcraft is getting through innings as a starter without laboring too much. He logged 56 pitches through three innings on Aug. 9. He lowered his rate of pitches per inning even further on Aug. 15, needing just 61 to get through five frames.

Ashcraft increasing his workload is another big step in the right direction. His seasonal workload has been limited multiple times over the last few years, which is why many saw him as a future reliever instead of a starting rotation option. In 2023, he only pitched 52 2/3 innings in 19 starts, as he missed nearly three full seasons. He didn’t pitch in 2020 because of the cancelled COVID season. He then only threw 38 1/3 innings in 2021 before undergoing Tommy John surgery, which also eliminated him from 2022. Then in 2024, he pitched 73 2/3 innings, but only appeared in 16 games (14 starts). Given all of that, it looked like Ashcraft may have had to stay in the bullpen.

An increasing workload while maintaining good velocity and inducing effective results is all extremely promising for Ashcraft this year. With how things are going, the Pirates are going to slot him into the rotation at the start of the year, behind Paul Skenes and Mitch Keller. Ashcraft as the third starter, with some mix of Mike Burrows, Bubba Chandler, Hunter Barco, and Johan Oviedo filling out the rest of the rotation will give the Pirates a very promising starting five.

Now, about that offense ...