Braxton Ashcraft #35

Braxton Blake Ashcraft...Wife’s name is Cassidy...Is a 2018 graduate of Robinson (Texas) High School, where he was 11-1 with 103 strikeouts in 70.1 innings as a senior...Had 37 touchdowns among his 104 receptions and 2090 yards as a junior on Robinson’s football team in 2016...Was committed to pitch at Baylor (Texas) University...Was signed by Pirates scout Phil Huttmann.

2025

Began the season with Indianapolis, where he pitched 3.1 innings as the Opening Day starter on 3/28 at St. Paul...Earned his first win after allowing one run and striking out six batters in 5.0 innings on 4/9 at Louisville...Struck out 17 batters over 12.0 total innings in his final two starts with the Indians on 5/14 vs. Louisville and 5/21 at Toledo...Was recalled by Pittsburgh on 5/26 and made his Major League debut that night at Arizona, tossing 3.0 scoreless innings in relief of starter Andrew Heaney...Became the first Pirates reliever to toss at least 3.0 scoreless innings of relief in his big-league debut since Jim Nelson (3.0 IP) on 5/30/70 vs. San Francisco (Bubba Chandler went on to do that with 4.0 scoreless innings in his MLB debut on 8/22 vs. Colorado)...Tossed 2.0 scoreless innings in his PNC Park debut on 6/4 vs. Houston...Earned his first Major League win with 1.1 scoreless innings in relief of Paul Skenes on 6/8 vs. Philadelphia...Allowed his first run on 6/11 vs. Miami, snapping a streak of 7.1 straight scoreless innings to begin his career...Made his first Major League start on 6/23 at Milwaukee, allowing just one hit in 3.0 scoreless innings...Joined Babe Adams (8/18/1909- G1 vs. St. Louis) as the only Pirates rookie relievers in the Modern Era (since 1901) to earn a victory while tossing 3.0 perfect innings when he did that in the 3-1 win on 7/29 at San Francisco...Returned to the rotation on 8/9 vs. Cincinnati and stayed there until his relief appearance on 9/9 at Baltimore...Allowed three runs over 4.0 innings in his start on 9/15 vs. Chicago (NL), his first time in seven starts allowing more than one run...Joined Los Angeles’ Fernando Valenzuela in 1981 (seven starts) as the only Major League pitchers in the Modern Era to pitch at least 3.0 innings and allow one or zero runs in each of their first six big-league starts...Struck out six batters over 3.0 perfect innings of relief on 9/20 vs. the Athletics, making him one of three Pirates relievers in the Modern Era to accomplish that, joining Bob Patterson on 5/25/91 vs. Philadelphia and Chan Ho Park on 10/1/2010 at Florida...Made his final appearance of the season as a starter on 9/25 at Cincinnati, allowing a season-high eight hits in 4.1 innings while suffering a 2-1 loss...Went 3-2 with a 3.22 ERA (36.1 IP/13 ER) in 18 relief appearances and 1-2 with a 2.16 ERA (33.1 IP/8 ER) in eight starts...Was one of two Major League pitchers from 5/26 (debut date) through the end of the season to pitch at least 65.0 innings and allow three or fewer home runs (69.2 IP/3 HR), along with Milwaukee’s Aaron Ashby, who allowed three home runs in 65.2 innings of work.

2024

Went 3-2 with a 2.84 ERA (73.0ip/23er) and 77 strikeouts in 16 combined appearances (14 starts) between Altoona and Indianapolis...Earned the win in the inaugural Spring Training Breakout Game against the Orioles on 3/14...Began the season with Altoona...Started on 4/9 vs. Harrisburg in Altoona’s Home Opener and gave up four runs in 3.0 innings in a no-decision...Made his lone Double-A relief appearance on 4/14 vs. Harrisburg (2.0ip/2r)...Suffered a loss while tossing a 6.0-inning complete game on 5/2 at Harrisburg (Game 1); gave up six runs (four earned) while throwing 80 pitches...Pitched 5.0 scoreless innings while winning his first decision on 5/8 vs. Somerset...Pitched 7.0 scoreless innings and had 10 strikeouts on 5/14 at Akron, but had a no-decision in the walk-off loss...Tossed 14.0 consecutive scoreless innings from 5/2-19...Went 1-1 with a 1.95 ERA (32.1ip/9r/7er) in six starts during the month of May...Finished tied for first in the Eastern League in strikeouts (39), fifth in ERA, fourth in innings pitched (39.0) and fifth in WHIP (0.99) in the month of May...Struck out a career-high 12 batters and did not walk a batter in 7.0 innings while winning his second decision on 6/6 at Richmond (the most punchouts by a Curve pitcher since Tyler Glasnow in 2015)...Was promoted to Indianapolis on 6/11...Made his Triple-A debut on 6/13 at Jacksonville and gave up one run in 6.0 innings for the win... Pitched 4.1 scoreless innings in his second start on 6/19 vs. Iowa...Tossed 5.0 scoreless innings on 6/25 at Rochester, but received a no-decision...Was placed on the seven-day injured list on 6/28 (retro to 6/27)...Was reinstated on 7/6 and tossed 3.0 scoreless innings of relief that day vs. Louisville...Returned to the injured list on 7/12 with recurring symptoms of lateral forearm tightness (was reinstated on 8/30)...Returned to the I.L. on 8/31 and missed the remainder of the season.

2023

Went a combined 0-3 with a 2.39 ERA (52.2ip/14er), 63 strikeouts, 11 walks, .231 batting average against and 1.08 WHIP in 19 starts between Bradenton, Greensboro, and Altoona…Finished with the 14th-best strikeout-to-walk ratio (5.73) in all of Minor League Baseball out of the 1362 pitchers who threw at least 50.0 innings… Began a rehab assignment with Bradenton on 4/9…Struck out five batters in 3.0 scoreless innings in his season debut on 4/9 vs. Clearwater…Struck out six batters in 3.1 scoreless innings in his final rehab start with Bradenton on 4/15 at Lakeland…Was activated from the seven-day injured list to Greensboro’s roster on 4/21…Struck out six batters in 4.0 scoreless innings in his season debut with Greensboro on 4/21…Spent one week on the development list from 5/9- 16 to manage innings…Was transferred to Altoona’s roster on 6/20…Allowed one unearned run in 3.0 innings in his Double-A debut on 6/21 against Bowie…Tossed 3.0 scoreless innings in his last outing on 8/10 before being placed on the development list for the remainder of the season on 8/11… Was rated as Pittsburgh’s No. 10 prospect according to Baseball America (No. 12 by MLB Pipeline) at the time he was added to the 40-man roster in November.

2022

Missed the entire season after undergoing Tommy John surgery.

2021

Spent the entire season with Greensboro…Recorded a 1.65 ERA (16.1ip/3er) in his four starts during May, allowing all three runs on solo homers…Was placed on the 60-day injured list on 7/27 before undergoing Tommy John surgery while missing the remainder of the season.