{"id":100983,"date":"2025-05-26T18:49:31","date_gmt":"2025-05-26T22:49:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=100983"},"modified":"2025-05-26T18:50:16","modified_gmt":"2025-05-26T22:50:16","slug":"pirates-call-up-braxton-ashcraft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/05\/26\/pirates-call-up-braxton-ashcraft\/","title":{"rendered":"Pirates Call Up No. 7 Prospect Ashcraft to Make MLB Debut"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Pittsburgh Pirates have called up their <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/03\/06\/pirates-spring-breakout-roster\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">No. 7 prospect<\/a>, right-handed starting pitcher <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/register\/player.fcgi?id=ashcra000bra&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-05-26_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Braxton Ashcraft<\/a>, from Triple-A Indianapolis. The 25-year-old joined the team in Arizona in time for Monday night\u2019s game against the Diamondbacks. When he appears in a game, it will be his major league debut. Another rookie pitcher, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/m\/mattsis01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-05-26_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Isaac Mattson<\/a>, was dispatched to Indy to make room for Ashcraft.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">We have recalled RHP Braxton Ashcraft from Triple-A Indianapolis, and optioned RHP Isaac Mattson to Triple-A Indianapolis to make room for Ashcraft on the 26-man active roster.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Pirates\/status\/1927127871056691551?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">May 26, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2>Pirates Call Up No. 7 Prospect Braxton Ashcraft<\/h2>\n<p>In 10 starts with Indianapolis this season, Ashcraft was 3-3 with a 5.03 ERA and 1.490 WHIP. Opponents are hitting .273 against him. On the surface, his promotion is a head-scratcher while No. 1 prospect <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/register\/player.fcgi?id=chandl002roy&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-05-26_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bubba Chandler<\/a> continues to excel in Indy. The Pirates&#8217; brain trust may have been persuaded by Ashcraft\u2019s most recent outing, when he struck out a season-high nine batters in six innings in a 3-0 loss to the Toledo Mud Hens.<\/p>\n<p>Or perhaps they view his 2025 season as an aberration, given that the 2024 season was his best as a professional despite being shortened by an injury. Across two levels in 2024, he posted a 2.84 ERA and 1.068 WHIP in 16 games, which included 14 starts. At six-foot-five, 220 pounds, Ashcraft\u2019s fastball averages 95 mph and reached 98 last year. Ashcraft also features a slider, curve, and changeup. He\u2019s not afraid to pitch inside, as evidenced by the six batters he\u2019s plunked already in 2025.<\/p>\n<p>According to the ever-diligent Alex Stumpf of MLB.com, Pirates manager <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/k\/kellydo01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-05-26_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Don Kelly<\/a> plans to employ Ashcraft out of the bullpen. Sixty-nine of his 71 minor league appearances have been starts. However, Ashcraft is a logical choice for the bullpen given his injury history, which includes missing all of 2022 due to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/j\/johnto01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-05-26_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tommy John<\/a> surgery. Furthermore, Monday aligns with his turn to pitch in Indy\u2019s rotation, so he\u2019d be available out of the pen immediately.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Braxton Ashcraft has been recalled and will be used as a bulk reliever, per manager Don Kelly. Could still be a starter down the road, but for right now, the Pirates\u2019 No. 7 prospect will be a reliever.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Alex Stumpf (@AlexJStumpf) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AlexJStumpf\/status\/1927123023326278088?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">May 26, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3>Down Goes Mattson<\/h3>\n<p>Mattson\u2019s contract was selected on the 20th when <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/h\/holdeco01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-05-26_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Colin Holderman<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/05\/20\/pirates-bad-news-holderman-gonzales\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">went on the injured list<\/a>. He was solid in his three relief appearances, surrendering one run, one hit (a home run), and a walk in three innings while striking out four. Mattson becomes the latest victim in a season that\u2019s rapidly taking on the look of a tryout camp. The Pirates had recently called up shortstop <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/c\/chengts01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-05-26_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tsung-Che Cheng<\/a> and outfielder\/first baseman <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/g\/gorskma01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-05-26_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Matt Gorski<\/a>, giving them brief trials before sending them back to Triple-A. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/s\/solakni01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-05-26_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Nick Solak<\/a>, too, was added to the club on May 16 but has not appeared in a game since the 19th after going 1-for-10. Now Ashcraft enters the revolving door as Mattson exits. But it wouldn\u2019t be surprising to see Mattson back in a Pittsburgh uniform the next time bullpen help is needed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Pittsburgh Pirates have called up their No. 7 prospect, right-handed starting pitcher Braxton Ashcraft, from Triple-A Indianapolis. The 25-year-old joined the team in Arizona in time for Monday night\u2019s game against the Diamondbacks. When he appears in a game, it will be his major league debut. Another rookie pitcher, Isaac Mattson, was dispatched to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5010,"featured_media":100994,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26,1071,35],"tags":[28972,4906,5685,28961,28332,4197],"class_list":["post-100983","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pirates","category-mlb","category-news","tag-braxton-ashcraft","tag-bubba-chandler","tag-colin-holderman","tag-don-kelly","tag-matt-gorski","tag-nick-solak"],"modified_by":"Lewis Masella, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100983","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5010"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100983"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100983\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":100995,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100983\/revisions\/100995"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/100994"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100983"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100983"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100983"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}