The Pirates head to Cincinnati tonight to open a three-game series with the Reds at the Great American Smallpark and this bullpen was used heavily in the first three games of the season.
Dennis Santana pitched in all three games this season, making it three outings in the past four days. We saw last year that typically meant said pitcher was unavailable the next night so I believe Santana will be absent from the opener tonight. If a closer is needed, it’ll likely be Isaac Mattson who pitched yesterday, but had two off days before that. I don’t think anyone else will be unavailable besides Santana, but look for Gregory Soto and Justin Lawrence to get called upon as well.
At this point, I’m not sure of the roles for Hunter Barco and Jose Urquidy. I believed one would piggyback Mlodzinski yesterday, but that was not the case. Barco pitched in extras in a high-leverage spot on Saturday and Urquidy got in the 10th inning yesterday for the save, just the second of his career. So if Barco is going to be one of the back end guys of the pen now, this could be a spot for him tonight as well with Santana likely unavailable.
Starting tonight will be Braxton Ashcraft. This will be his season debut, but will be his 9th start of his career and 27th appearance in the Majors as he pitched mostly out of the bullpen last season. And Ashcraft succeeded last season in both roles: 2.16 ERA in 8 starts and 3.22 ERA as a reliever. He ultimately finished the year with a 2.71 ERA in 69.2 innings. He struck out 9.2 batters per nine while walking 3.1 per nine innings. His ERA was right in line with his FIP of 2.68. He gave up just three home runs in those near 70 innings. This spring, Ashcraft once again impressed with 16 strikeouts and just one walk in 13.1 innings through 4 starts. He finished spring with a 2.03 ERA.
Ashcraft has looked the part, his trading card numbers have been good and his statcast numbers were fantastic last season. He has answered the call at every step and I think he’s one of the young arms to be most excited about heading into this season. Last season he actually finished the year with a start in Cincinnati, giving up two runs on eight hits in 4.1 innings while striking out five batters. We’ll see how he opens his 2026 season at GABP. I know I can’t wait for it.
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