This Pirates pitcher’s health milestone reveals a bigger roster problem

Braxton Ashcraft's health situation is one of those good-news-bad-news situations for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Injuries have long limited the 2018 second-round pick, delaying his big league arrival for years until he finally broke through in 2025. Even then, he was limited, making just eight starts and spending most of his time working in relief while tallying 69.2 innings.

Ashcraft told fans at PiratesFest that he got the first healthy offseason of his career. It's allowed the 26-year-old the time to prepare, to tinker, and to get ready for a likely slot in the starting rotation rather than focusing on rehab for the first time, ever.

That's the good news. The Pirates will need him, but it also highlights the underlying problem with a unit that is theoretically strong but still unproven.

Braxton Ashcraft's clean bill of health highlights the fragility and inexperience present in the Pirates' projected starting rotation

Pittsburgh obviously has the game's best pitcher heading up its rotation, and while Paul Skenes is a gift, he can't do the job of four other men. That means we can finally put to bed the long-running Mitch Keller trade rumors once and for all.

Having a fire-breathing ace and a reliable innings eater is nice. But the Pirates want to actually compete, and the other three-fifths of the rotation are all varying degrees of questionable.

Bubba Chandler will generate a lot of excitement, but as we saw last year in his 31.1 innings of big league work, there could be some early growing pains even if the overall package ends up being solid.

Ashcraft is in a similar boat. He has talent, which has led teams like the New York Mets to try to pry him away. Throw in his injury concerns, and despite his high ceiling, it's not unlikely a multitude of things could go wrong.

Throw Carmen Mlodzinski into the mix, and you have another hurler who has swung between the bullpen and the rotation and is light on experience.

Another issue that doesn't always get enough attention is that all of these pitchers are right-handed, which isn't ideal when it comes to balance.

To his credit, Ben Cherington has acknowledged the need for another starter, but so far, he has yet to act. It would be lovely to bring in a co-ace to run with Skenes, but splurging for a top-of-the-line lefty like Framber Valdez doesn't seem to be in the cards.

While Pittsburgh will be hoping one of these talented youngsters ascends to the No. 2 starter role, what the club really needs is veteran stability (again, preferably left-handed) to hold down the back end and eat innings.

The options in free agency are getting slim, but former Pirate Jose Quintana would make a ton of sense. Other lefties like Tyler Anderson or Patrick Corbin could work, too. If the Pirates forgo the lefty requirement, former division rival Nick Martinez could be a decent option based on his body of work with the Cincinnati Reds. If Cherington dips his toes into the trade market, there are even more rocks he could look under.

The Pirates' young arms could fly high, but having a veteran safety net around to catch them if they fall is imperative. The winter shouldn't end without this action item being addressed.