The Pirates took it to the Cardinals again as Braxton Ashcraft struck out nine over seven strong innings and Brandon Lowe and Henry Davis went deep for a 6-2 victory to take the series in St. Louis. The Pirates move to 26-24 with the win. Lowe’s solo home run in the 1st inning was his team-leading 13th blast of the year. Cody and I broke down this one on the NS9 Postgame Show powered by Primanti’s Bros. You can watch/listen here:
Here’s my three takeaways from this series win:
I’m Running Out of Words for Braxton Ashcraft
It is only May 21st and less than 2 months into the season, and I am already having trouble coming up with new ways to talk about Braxton Ashcraft. He is simply a fantastic pitcher who has made changes to his game to not only be good, but efficient as well. The man has gone over 100 career innings once in his professional career and has been so great as a starter he is now 4th in baseball in innings pitched. He shut down the Cardinals lineup today, dealing a seventh-inning gem where the only damage was a solo home run by Ivan Herrera. Ashcroft had 9 strikeouts, 12 whiffs, and 20 called strikes throughout the day. The command and pitch mix Ashcroft possesses stands out, as he has the poise and ability to use his whole arsenal like he is a seasoned 10-year veteran. It is going to hit us like a sack of bricks when he needs to take a 2-week vacation in the heart of August for his arm management, because every five days he has given us we must watch baseball.
This Team is Going to Be Annoying Down the Stretch
The Pirates did exactly what a playoff team needed to do this series and bounced back from a horrible 4-game losing streak. They soundly beat the Cardinals over the past two days and outscored them 13-2, making neither contest particularly close. They ensured they would not fall out of the playoff hunt, as none of the NL Central teams were showing signs of slowing down to sub .500 baseball. However, this team is clearly going to be annoying and they will get close to breaking out but never quite get far away from a .500 record. Ever since the 2nd week of the season, the battling Bucs have been very resilient but also unable to go on extended patches of winning. Hopefully, the Pirates make me eat my words when they travel to Toronto and have the chance to jump on an injured and struggling Blue Jays squad.
Konnor Griffin is Outpacing Rookie Bobby Witt
My barometer for Konnor Griffin’s success would be Bobby Witt Jr’s rookie campaign, where he had a 99 wRC+ and a .722 OPS. With a clutch double in the 6th inning that helped break the game open today, Griffin now has a .738 OPS and a wRC+ of 106. He has really settled into the Major Leagues, using a combination of speed and contact to get on base and to establish himself a useful MLB player. He has plenty of things to improve on, mainly his strikeout to walk ratio and hitting the ball in the air, but for a 20-year-old rookie he has fared about as reasonably as anyone could have expected. I know he has arrived because I have an expectation he will make things happen when he comes up to the plate. Overall, I think he has looked quite a lot like early Starling Marte who will develop more power than Marte, ever had. Being able to see one of the best Pirates of the 21st century as a rookie is a good sign Griffin is going to have a fantastic career.
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