Morning Rundown: Braxton Ashcraft optioned to minors, Pirates lose 1-0 to Red Sox
Ashcraft optioned to minors and the Pirates are shutout by the Red Sox on the road.
The Pittsburgh Pirates have optioned right-handed pitcher Braxton Ashcraft to minor league camp on Monday.
A former second-round pick, Ashcraft burst back on the scene in 2023, coming back from Tommy John surgery. He hadn’t pitched since 2021 and returned to strike out 63 batters in 52.2 innings pitched.
Ashcraft was added to the 40-man roster in the offseason, and most outlets have him among the top 10 prospects in the Pirates’ system this year.
In four games this spring, Ashcraft has allowed two unearned runs on two hits and two walks while striking out three in 3.2 innings of work.
Alex Stumpf of MLB.com recently had an article on Ashcraft on the site, discussing his journey back to the mound and his potential role in the organization.
With just five hits, none of which went for extra bases, the Pirates were shut out by the Boston Red Sox on Monday, 1-0.
Billy McKinney, Liover Peguero, Edward Olivares, Canaan Smith-Njigba, and Sergio Alcantara all picked up hits for the Pirates.
Fighting for a rotation spot, Bailey Falter had his best performance of the spring, pitching 3.2 shutout innings, allowing just a hit and walk while striking out four.
Brent Honeywell Jr., Jose Hernandez, Ryder Ryan, and Colin Selby wrapped things up the rest of the way. Ryan allowed the lone run of the game but also struck out a pair of batters.
The Pirates will face the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday at LECOM Park. Chase Anderson is expected to make his first start of the spring.
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Spring Training has gotten to that point where we (at least me) are no longer looking for who can break out and push their way onto the Active Roster. There are a few questions - do the Pirates place Yasmani Grandal on the DL? Either he or Jason Delay will join Davis at the Catcher position. In the OF do the Pirates go with the 3 - Reynolds, Suwinski, Olivares, and add Celestino as the RH hitting CF? The IF and DH are set with Hayes, Cruz, Peguero, Triolo, Joe/Tellez, and 'Cutch as the DH. That's all 13 - a lot of offensive and defensive talent that is good enough to provide at least a .500 season.
Pitching, Pitching, Pitching! Keller, Gonzales, Perez, and going into ST it was Contreras, Jones, Falter, or Ortiz completing the 5 man Rotation. Looks now like Jones is going back to AAA, and the other 3 of that last group will make the active roster due to injuries in the BP. The signing of Aroldis Chapman, which was first seen as just adding strength to strength, has now taken on a much higher importance for the Pirate BP. And, the decision to promote Mlodzinski to get 30+ innings in the Pirate BP last year is also huge for this 2024 team.
They have enough to compete for the playoffs in 2024. The Major Issue for this ballclub will be how effective will Gonzales and Perez be in the first few full months, and can the BP be the difference maker it was in 2023?
Completely unrelated but, it appears that the Reds knew something was up with Marte.
Why else would they sign Candelario when they have 41 infield options and no desire to trade India?