Braxton Ashcraft had his best start of the season on Wednesday for Altoona. The right-hander pitched five shutout innings, allowing two hits, two walks, and striking out five.
Ashcraft is one of the top ten prospects in the Pirates’ system, due to a fastball that can sit mid-to-upper 90s, and a hard slider that is an out pitch. He’s been hit around this season, with four homers allowed in the month of April, and a 5.33 ERA on the season.
The results for Ashcraft have started to improve this month. In his last start, he wasn’t hit around as much, but was a victim of poor defense.