6-26-24 – By Michael Castrignano – @412DoublePlay on X
Final game in this Reds series will see Luis Ortiz receive his first regular start of the season and his opponent Graham Ashcraft returns to toe the rubber for Cincinnati.
Ashcraft is 1-0 with an ERA of 2.89 and 18 strikeouts to 5 walks in 3 career appearances versus the Pirates but hasn’t posted as compelling stats against other opponents – especially in 2024.
Following some early season struggles which saw him post a 5.05 ERA, 1.46 WHIP and a 17.5% K rate, Ashcraft was sent down to Triple-A Louisville, where he posted a 3.00 ERA in 10 innings over 2 starts there.
Rotation injuries have forced Cincinnati’s hand in recalling Ashcraft, who has particularly struggled at home this season with a career 5.56 ERA pitching in the unfriendly confines of Great American Ball Park.
He works mostly with a 3-pitch mix: mid-90s cutter, high-80s slider and mid-90s sinker. He also tosses an infrequent changeup in the low-90 but mostly relies on the cutter-slider-sinker repertoire.
Ashcraft works the cutter middle-middle and uses it indiscriminately against both lefties and righties. His slider runs in versus righties and works the sinker away in those same instances, preferring the cutter-heavy approach against LHHs. In his 12 starts this season, that strategy has proven ineffective.
Against the cutter, opponents are hitting .323 and slugging .515 while the sinker has been similarly hit well at a .314 clip and .490 slugging. On the other hand, he’s generated solid results with the slider as his hard stuff has produced diminished success.
Looking at today’s game, Pirates hitters will need to key-in on heat and lay off the breaking stuff. Ashcraft went 6 innings of 1 run ball against the Royals AAA club last Friday but he’s back in the big leagues now and Bucco bats should welcome him accordingly.
Lefties have been hitting him well with an .813 OPS but righties have done damage here in GABP with an .877 OPS against Ashcraft when he’s pitching at home.
The team has found its rhythm on offense with 10+ hits and 5+ runs in each of the last two games. Keep the foot on the gas and head out of town on a strong note.
Let’s Go Bucs!
Steel City Pirates 