Braxton Ashcraft’s Renewed Changeup Has Pirates RHP Primed For Potential 2025 MLB Debut
Image credit: Braxton Ashcraft (Mike Janes/Four Seam Images)
In 2024, there was a lot to like about Pirates righthander Braxton Ashcraft. His fastball sat in the mid 90s and was a strike 68% of the time. Both of his breaking balls were tight, high-spin weapons that projected as potentially plus pitches.
There was, however, one big area for improvement: his changeup.
Ashcraft, who was drafted 51st overall in 2018 and is the fourth-ranked prospect in the Pirates’ system, rarely threw the pitch in 2024. Evaluators, however, expressed optimism in its shape and performance. He just needed to throw it more often.
Part of Ashcraft’s reticence to throw his changeup was because it was the last pitch he threw before suffering the torn ulnar collateral ligament that eventually required Tommy John surgery and wiped out his 2022 season. To become a more complete pitcher—and one who could stick as a rotation piece—he needed to regain confidence in that offering and incorporate it more often as a weapon against lefthanders.
This spring, he’s done just that.
Ashcraft’s most recent turn on the backfields came in an intrasquad game against lower-level Pirates minor leaguers. The most important part of that afternoon’s appearance was that he unleashed his changeup enough to keep hitters off his heater and breaking balls. It was also notable that he had enough conviction in the pitch, which sits 89-91 mph, to throw it against both lefties and righties.
“We just had a really honest conversation with him about the fact that, ‘If you’re going to be a starter, this is a weapon that would tremendously help you,'” Pirates pitching coordinator Josh Hopper said. “And to his credit, he went home, took ownership of it, and comes back, and asks ‘What do you think?’ And it’s pretty good.”
Ashcraft’s changeup is thrown with a traditional grip and without much in the way of pronation. Simply put: He throws it just as he would his fastball and lets the grip do all the work for him.
“He was trying so hard to manipulate it and make it move, which made it get wonky and hard to strike,” Hopper said. “We kept having conversations with him about the fact that, like, ‘Hey, you don’t have to manipulate it. It’ll play. You can allow the spin of the ball to let it play.'”
Beyond the changeup, Ashcraft is also incorporating a two-seamer into a mix that already features a four-seam fastball that has touched 98 mph, a powerful upper-80s slider and low-80s curveball. The goal is to add another weapon against righthanders, specifically on the inner half of the plate.
“I just think it opens up the doors for him,” Hopper said. “I think it has the opportunity to make really efficient innings, because it helps control pitch count, because of the ground balls. I think it opens up the side of the plate, because it gives him a little room for error right-on-right if he wants to use it in that way to open up that inner half.
“We all know that the Braxton can really, really spin the ball. Like, really spin it. And because he can spin it so well, anything we can do to keep opening up room is great.”
The Pirates’ pitching in recent years speaks for itself. With two new pitches in his arsenal, Ashcraft might be the next young Buc to make his big league debut.
