Braxton Ashcraft (born October 5, 1999) is an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

for the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB).

Career

Ashcraft attended Robinson High School in

Robinson, Texas Robinson is a city in McLennan County, Texas, United States. The population was 12,443 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Waco Metropolitan Statistical Area. Demographics As of the 2020 United States census, there were 12,443 people, 3,86 ...

. He was drafted by the

in the second round of the

2018 Major League Baseball draft The 2018 Major League Baseball draft began on June 4, 2018. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order was determined based on the reverse order of the 2017 MLB season final standings. In addition, compensation pi ...

. He signed and made his professional debut that summer with the rookie-level

Gulf Coast League Pirates The Florida Complex League Pirates are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates, competing in the Florida Complex League of Minor League Baseball. Prior to 2021, the team was known as the Gulf Coast League Pirates. The team plays its hom ...

. Ashcraft pitched in 2019 for the

West Virginia Black Bears The West Virginia Black Bears are a collegiate summer baseball team of the MLB Draft League. They are located in Granville, West Virginia, and play their home games at Kendrick Family Ballpark, which is across the Monongahela River from Morga ...

. He had surgery on his left shoulder, which had been causing his non-throwing arm to become numb when he pitched. He did not play in 2020 due to the

Minor League Baseball Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...

season being cancelled because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. He also had surgery to fix a torn meniscus. He returned in 2021 to play for the

Greensboro Grasshoppers The Greensboro Grasshoppers are a Minor League Baseball team based in Greensboro, North Carolina. They are members of the South Atlantic League and are the High-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. They play their home games at First National B ...

before undergoing

Tommy John surgery Ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, sometimes referred to as Tommy John surgery is a surgical graft procedure where the ulnar collateral ligament in the medial elbow is replaced with either a tendon from elsewhere in the patient's body, ...

in August, which caused him to miss the 2022 season. Ashcraft returned from the injury in 2023 to play for the

Bradenton Marauders The Bradenton Marauders are a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League and the Single-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. They are located in Bradenton, Florida, and play their home games at LECOM Park, which also serves as the ...

, Greensboro, and the

Altoona Curve The Altoona Curve are a Minor League Baseball team based in Altoona, Pennsylvania, named after nearby Horseshoe Curve (but also alluding to the curveball, a type of pitch). The team plays in the Eastern League and is the Double-A affiliate of ...

. On November 14, 2023, the Pirates added Ashcraft to their

40-man roster A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, an ...

to protect him from the

Rule 5 draft The Rule 5 draft is a Major League Baseball (MLB) player draft that occurs each year in December, at the annual Winter Meeting of general managers. The Rule 5 draft aims to prevent teams from stockpiling too many young players on their minor lea ...

. He was optioned to the Triple-A

Indianapolis Indians The Indianapolis Indians are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. They are located in Indianapolis, Indiana, and play their home games at Victory ...

to begin the 2024 season. In 16 games (14 starts) split between Altoona and Indianapolis, Ashcraft compiled a 3–2 record and 2.84

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

(ERA) with 77 strikeouts across 73 innings of work. The Pirates optioned Ashcraft to Triple-A Indianapolis to begin the 2025 season. In 10 games for Indianapolis, he compiled a 3–3 record and 5.03 ERA with 56 strikeouts across innings pitched. On May 26, 2025, Ashcraft was promoted to the major leagues for the first time. That day, Ashcraft debuted in the major leagues, pitching the final three innings in a loss to the

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West Division. The franchise was established ...

. Ashcraft struck out the first batter he faced, Tim Tawa, for his first major league strikeout.

Personal life

Ashcraft's parents are Karen and Tony and he has three siblings. His father coached him in youth baseball from ages 9 to 13. He is engaged, , to Cassidy Green, who also grew up in Robinson. Ashcraft also ran track and played football and basketball in high school. He caught seven touchdown passes in a high school football game in 2017, one shy of a state record.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashcraft, Braxton 1999 births Living people Altoona Curve players Baseball players from Waco, Texas Bradenton Marauders players Greensboro Grasshoppers players Gulf Coast Pirates players Indianapolis Indians players Major League Baseball pitchers Pittsburgh Pirates players West Virginia Black Bears players