Morning Rundown: Braxton Ashcraft makes AAA debut, Jose Hernandez traded to Dodgers
Ashcraft pitches for Indianapolis, Pirates make a trade.
After starting the year in Altoona, right-handed pitcher Braxton Ashcraft made his Triple-A debut on Thursday.
Facing the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, Ashcraft pitched six innings, allowing one run on three hits while striking out four.
He needed just 72 pitches, 47 of which went for strikes. He mixed in a fastball, slider, curveball, and change-up, getting eight whiffs on 36 swings.
One of the biggest questions about Ashcraft was whether he would be able to maintain his stuff now that he was pitching deeper into games. His last two pitches were fastballs (clocked in at 96.6 and 96.4 mph), with each getting whiffs.
Ashcraft relied on his fastball in the start, averaging 96.1 mph with the pitch. The only pitch that didn’t grade out at least average was the change-up.
To make room for Dennis Santana, the Pirates designated Jose Hernandez for assignment. Late Thursday they announced that they traded Hernandez to the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for cash considerations.
Hernandez, 26, had pitched in seven games for the Pirates this season, posting a 3.38 ERA in 5.1 innings pitched. He had pitched seldomly as of late while in the majors, was optioned, and then DFAd.
After getting selected in the Rule 5 draft last year, Hernandez spent the entire year with the Pirates in 2024, having some strong moments.
The Pirates dropped the series finale against the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday. A Brendan Donovan home run in the sixth canceled out a rally made by the Pirates. Oneil Cruz drove in a pair of runs, giving him 28 on the season.
Mitch Keller allowed four runs on eight hits while striking out four across six innings. A pair of home runs ended up being the difference and snapped his six-start winnings streak.
With it now coming out that Paul Skenes’ next start will be pushed back a day, the Pirates will need to find out what they are doing with two of their rotation spots in their upcoming series against the Rockies.
Later today, we will release our midseason update for our top 25 prospects in the Pirates’ system.
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Pittsburgh Pirates sent SS Alika Williams on a rehab assignment to Indianapolis Indians
Pittsburgh Pirates optioned RHP Ryder Ryan to Indianapolis Indians
Indianapolis Indians activated Brent Honeywell Jr.
Pittsburgh Pirates sent RHP Ben Heller outright to Indianapolis Indians
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Top Exit Velocity
Canaan Smith-Njigba - IND - 107.1 mph - Double
Grant Koch - IND - 105.4 mph - Single
Yasmani Grandal - PIT - 104.3 mph - Groundout
Oneil Cruz - PIT - 103.5 mph - Single
Gilberto Celestino - IND - 102.6 mph - Home Run
Top Pitch Velocity
Connor Sadzeck - IND - 98.5 mph
Braxton Ashcraft - IND - 98.3 mph
Connor Sadzeck - IND - 98 mph
Braxton Ashcraft - IND - 98 mph
Connor Sadzeck - IND - 97.8 mph
Most Whiffs
Drake Fellows - ALT - 10
Wilber Dotel - GBO - 10
Mitch Keller - PIT - 9
Braxton Ashcraft - IND - 8
Brandan Bidois - GBO - 4
Eddy Yean - ALT - 4
Indianapolis Indians - 4 vs Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp - 1
Top Hitter - Grant Koch: 2-3, R, HR, 2 RBI, BB
Top Pitcher - Braxton Ashcraft: 6 IP, 3 H, ER, 4 K
Altoona Curve - 2 vs Erie SeaWolves - 0
Top Hitter - Wyatt Hendrie: 1-3, RBI, SB
Top Pitcher - Drake Fellows: 5 IP, 5 H, 4 K
Greensboro Grasshoppers - 6 vs Winston Salem Dash - 1
Top Hitter - Nick Cimillo: 1-4, R, HR, 3 RBI
Top Pitcher - Wilber Dotel: 5.1 IP, 6 H, ER, 4 BB, 4 K
Bradenton Marauders - Suspended
FCL Pirates - 0 vs FCL Twins - 2
Top Hitter - Miguel Sosa/Luke Scherrer: 1-3
Top Pitcher - Carlos Mateo: 3.2 IP, H, 4 BB, 6 K
FCL Pirates - 9 vs FCL Twins - 2
Top Hitter - Miguel Sosa: 3-4, R, 2 RBI
Top Pitcher - Zander Mueth: 5 IP, 3 H, 2 BB, 7 K
DSL Pirates Black - 6 vs DSL Dodgers Bautista
Top Hitter - Kendrick Herrera: 2-3, 2 R, RBI, BB
Top Pitcher - Francis Reyes: IP, H, 2 K
DSL Pirates Gold - 8 vs DSL Cubs Blue - 7
Top Hitter - Angel Rodriguez: 3-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, HR, 2B
Top Pitcher - Brandison Polanco: 2.1 IP, 4 K
The sitting of three of your strongest hitters simultaneously yesterday against a division foe KNOWING your pitching is going to be short-staffed over the weekend is just mind blowing.
See, this is exactly what I meant wrt BucsDugout these days in response to a game where the coach lets 3 of his best hitters rot on the bench down 1 in the bottom of the 9th:
Avatar for greatWhiteAngus
This has to be most sociopathic group of dudes in any blog this side of the Himalayans. When the team wins most people are quiet, just another Wednesday. This team loses? It's everything from "this is the worst team in MLB" and "_________ is garbage".
There are over 90 games left in the season. 90!!! The Bucs, despite what you think, are playing better ball, at 500 over the last 6 weeks. And yeah, some of the losses have been super frustrating but holy chiiiiiiiiiiii maaan. You didn't expect ANYTHING from this team. Nothing!
With all of this anger I'd hope all you old guys are at least taking an aspirin a day and that the youngins are not moving from shrooms to meth. Every fan thinks their team is run by the worst GM, the worst scouts, the worst coach. So chances are that every MLB team is run by morons at this point but obviously no team is worse than ours.
I do mean all of that with love, btw. We're all in this together. Breathe in, breathe out. Childs pose. Dogward down. Fuk the Cards. Lets go Bucs.