Braxton Ashcraft isn’t the Pittsburgh Pirates’ best pitcher. But Ashcraft is having the best season of any Pirates starter.
And it’s time for more people to start acknowledging that.
Based on how bumpy things have been for Paul Skenes his last two times out, some folks in Pittsburgh have picked up on Ashcraft’s ascent on the club’s pitching stat sheet.
Yet it’s getting very little attention nationally.
That better change soon, because if the All-Star team were to be announced today, Ashcraft deserves to be the first Pirates pitcher mentioned.
On the anniversary of his major league debut, Ashcraft added yet another solid outing Tuesday to his extremely consistent 2026 campaign. The 26-year-old right-hander improved to 4-2 as the Pirates thumped the Chicago Cubs, 12-1.
Ashcraft pitched into the seventh inning and allowed only one run. He totaled five strikeouts against just one walk and finished 6⅓ innings with 95 pitches. The effort dropped the native Texan’s ERA to 2.75. That is the lowest mark among the team’s starters.
Braxton Ashcraft's 3Ks in the 5th. pic.twitter.com/hEpbmgW0vG
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 26, 2026
“He’s got the ability to make really good pitches in those (high-leverage) moments to get the ground balls that he needs — and to get the punchouts too,” manager Don Kelly said Tuesday night. “Some of the pitches that he was able to use to strike guys out from the side looked elite, especially the curveball.”
Ashcraft hasn’t lost a decision since April 28 against the St. Louis Cardinals. The Pirates have won seven of the 11 times Ashcraft has opened a game.
“It’s a lot easier pitching when you’re pitching ahead. That’s been a big point of emphasis through my whole career, from when I got drafted back to whenever I was playing Little League,” Ashcraft said. “So getting ahead, staying ahead and putting guys away, that’s a huge point of emphasis.”
Nick Gonzales has been a teammate of Ashcraft’s since the infielder broke into pro baseball in 2021. He says that the consistency Ashcraft has developed between starts has carried over to game days.
“He puts in the work. Always in the weight room. Always in the training room. Always doing something to benefit him for his start,” Gonzales said. “I know him as a person, and he has dealt with a lot of adversity throughout his career. For him to be as level-headed and hard-nosed as he is? That’s a testament to his hard work.”
A standout high school football player in Robinson, Texas, Ashcraft admits he put his body through the wringer as a youngster and needed to learn better habits for treating himself between starts, especially after enduring so many health issues in the minor leagues.
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Ashcraft was 1-9 with a 5.77 ERA to start his career in Low-A ball before undergoing an operation on his non-throwing shoulder in 2019. Covid wiped out the 2020 season. Then he needed Tommy John surgery in 2021.
“I was hard on this body. I played all sports, or tried to, at least. Football is a hard sport on the body. Baseball’s a hard sport on the body. If you don’t know how to take care of yourself, it kind of leads to complications down the road,” Ashcraft said. “Early in my career, I think that’s a lot of what I dealt with. Now, with the understanding of how to take care of my body, how to do preventative work, it makes it a lot easier to be healthy.”
Ashcraft pitched his way into the seventh inning during all five of his starts in May. His 68⅔ innings are tied for third-most in the National League.
“In a starting role, that’s your main priority — being efficient. Getting guys out of the box early, getting weak contact. When I came up as a reliever, you’ve got to punch guys out. I think in a lot of ways that’s helped me get out of jams that I put myself in,” Ashcraft added. “More experience allows you to be a little bit more refined in the way that you go about your work, the way that you get to certain locations with certain pitches and certain counts. That’s just maturity, I guess.”
If June is even close to as good as May was for Ashcraft, that continued maturation may just put him on the All-Star roster in Philadelphia.
That’s if people outside of Pittsburgh take time to notice Pirates games that don’t involve Skenes.