Braxton Ashcraft made his 40th MLB appearance Friday at PNC Park, his 22nd start. He’s far from a seasoned veteran. However, the 26-year-old Texan is highly intelligent and does an excellent job articulating his thoughts.
Which is why it wasn’t surprising to hear how Ashcraft assessed his outing following an 8-3 Pirates loss to the Miami Marlins, lumping it in with some of the other pitching problems that’ve plagued Pittsburgh of late.
“We all have higher expectations for ourselves,” Ashcraft said. “I have super high expectations for myself. When I don’t realize those expectations and fall short of them, it’s extremely frustrating.”
There’s certainly frustration around the Pirates, especially on the pitching side, because that group hasn’t met its lofty goals of late.
Over the past 15 days, Pirates pitchers have a 6.29 ERA, ranking 28th in MLB. Much of that, of course, has been related to the bullpen, which has a 6.53 ERA since May 27. On the season, Pirates relievers are at 4.57, 22nd in MLB.
The bullpen again experienced issues against the Marlins. It was a 2-2 game when Ashcraft exited, but Wilber Dotel allowed four earned runs in 1 2/3 innings, walking three and struggling to execute while pitching behind in counts.
Over his past two outings, Dotel has given up 10 earned runs.
“Definitely the walks will hurt you, and it affected me a little bit,” Dotel said, with major league coach Stephen Morales translating.
For as much as we’ve talked and written about the Pirates bullpen, the point here isn’t complicated. This team has a top-10 offense, both in terms of runs (354, 4th) and OPS (.739, 6th). It simply needs its pitching to meet expectations.
We’ve seen that in spurts. Dotel had a 1.08 ERA over his first seven MLB appearances. Mitch Keller had a 2.85 ERA following seven innings of one-run ball on May 1. Dennis Santana allowed a grand total of one run over his first 13 games, while Isaac Mattson put together a scoreless stretch of 15 games before encountering some struggles.
It’s time for that pendulum to swing the other direction.
Mattson has a 1.86 ERA in nine games (one start) with Triple-A Indianapolis, walking six, striking out 11 and limiting opposing hitters to a .222 average. A return should come soon.
Bubba Chandler, meanwhile, will take the mound Saturday fresh off his best outing of the season, when he followed an opener in Atlanta. The Pirates need more of that.
I thought Ashcraft actually pitched better than he gave himself credit for on Friday, permitting two earned runs over five innings, walking two and striking out four.
A leadoff walk scored, but the other came on a splitter located low-and-away with an exit velocity of 86.3 mph.
“I thought it was a better outing than the one in Atlanta,” Kelly said. “I don’t think that he had the command that maybe he typically does. Looked like he was falling behind a little bit more. I thought all in all he threw the ball pretty well.”
The Pirates have suffered six losses when leading after six innings. Only four teams have more than their 13 blown saves. There’s obviously been a revolving door when it comes to relief roles this season.
Speaking of that, Antwone Kelly did look solid outside of a two-run homer allowed. Even that came on an 0-2 changeup at the bottom of the zone and traveled 344 feet — not exactly a shot. Kelly averaged 99.5 mph with his heater and topped out at 100.7.
“That’s why I’m here,” Kelly said.
And the Pirates need it to stay that way.
Asked what the Pirates have been emphasizing with the pitching staff, Kelly said it’s been a lot of simplifying things, getting back to executing pitches and working ahead in counts.
“Doing the things that we talked about in Spring Training,” Kelly said. “Getting ahead and being able to put guys away by inducing early, soft contact.”
The loss to the Marlins was frustrating, but it will hopefully serve as a lesson or flashpoint for this staff, a reminder to not over-complicate things or nibble.
It’s what Ashcraft has done for the bulk of the season, and it needs to be a midseason reset for a really talented group.
“I can’t speak for anybody else, but not executing my plan and nibbling on the edges … that’s not the way I’ve had success this season and in my short time in the big leagues,” Ashcraft said. “I just have to get back to that identity.”
Ashcraft also has plenty of confidence that it’ll happen.
For everyone.
“Not just the guys in the bullpen but us as starters, the guys playing the field and at the plate … there’s a lot of effort being put in to be the best players we can possibly be,” Ashcraft said. “There have been failures and successes on opposite ends of the spectrum. But I think with the group we have here, the success will ultimately outweigh the failure.”
Jason Mackey: Jason.Mackey@pirates.com and @JMackey_PGH.