3 starts in, Ashcraft might be Cincy's 'nastiest pitcher'
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CINCINNATI -- MLB Pipeline ranks Reds rookie pitcher Graham Ashcraft as the organization’s No. 7 prospect. Despite Ashcraft’s penchant for triple-digit velocity, he entered 2022 with none of the hype that was reserved for top prospects Hunter Greene and Nick Lodolo.
Three starts into Ashcraft’s nascent big league career, opposing lineups definitely know the big right-hander is no fun to face. During an 8-1 Reds victory over the Nationals on Thursday night, the 24-year-old allowed one run on four hits and one walk over seven innings, with five strikeouts. The lone run came on a Josh Bell solo homer to left in the seventh.
“He’s still very young and just got here, but he’s pitching like he’s been here for a long time,” Reds manager David Bell said.
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Ashcraft is 2-0 with a 1.53 ERA. In 17 2/3 innings, he’s allowed three runs, 12 hits and five walks with nine strikeouts. In seven starts at Triple-A Louisville before being promoted, he had walked 17 with 31 hits over 32 2/3 innings.
“I don’t think he realizes how good he is. He’s just out there having fun,” Reds shortstop Kyle Farmer said.
Ashcraft had just about everything working well against Washington. Here’s a breakdown:
Pumping strikes
Ashcraft threw first-pitch strikes to 20 of his 26 batters, including each of the first 10. Of his 92 pitches, 65 were strikes.
“It was great. It’s just like the last one, going out there and trying to fill up the zone,” Ashcraft said.
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The slider
Ashcraft used his slider the least of his three offerings -- 27 times -- but it was his most effective pitch. He notched all of his strikeouts with it. It came in especially handy during the top of the fifth inning after a one-out walk and a single. With two outs and Cincinnati leading, 3-0, Victor Robles represented the tying run and looked at an 86-mph called third strike to end the threat.
“I love being in a tight ballgame and tight situation, stuff like that,” Ashcraft said. “If I can go out there and shove it and get outs, it’s awesome. It’s one of the great feelings of being in the game.”
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After getting Robles looking, Ashcraft spun from the mound and pumped his fist with excitement. According to Statcast, the slider’s spin rate averaged 2,790 rpm, higher than his average of 2,678 and much higher than the league average of 2,403. It averaged 86.5 mph.
“That’s something we’ve been trying to work on over the last couple bullpens,” Ashcraft said. “We just made a quick, small, little tweak on it, keep your hand back and not try to get your fingers off the ball. That made it hard to hit.”
The cut fastball
Averaging 98 mph, Ashcraft used his cutter 37 times. It topped out at 100 mph in the first inning.
The sinker
It averaged 96.8 mph and maxed out at 99.5 mph while being thrown 28 times.
“To have the fastball going both ways does make for a really tough at-bat. I do know that,” Bell said.
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Weak contact
Similar to his previous start vs. the Giants, Ashcraft’s mix of three pitches brought mostly weak contact from Nationals hitters. Their average exit velocity off him was 81.4 mph, and they grounded out 14 times.
“You think a guy who throws 99 with a cutter and a sinker is going to get a lot of strikeouts, but it keeps the defense on our toes because you know you’re going to get ground balls,” Farmer said. "[Second baseman Matt] Reynolds looked at me tonight in like the fourth inning and said, ‘Is he our nastiest pitcher?’ I was like, ‘Man, I don’t know.’ … Watching him pitch and his personality is incredible as well.”
Hubris
Among those who had a tough night vs. Ashcraft was superstar Juan Soto, who grounded out three times with an average exit velocity of 84.2 mph. Ashcraft is soft-spoken, but he let his confidence show after the game.
“I was going right at him. I wasn’t going to throw around him,” Ashcraft said of Soto. “I know what he can do, but he hasn’t seen my kind of stuff. I like to think I beat him today.”
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Run support
This wasn’t Ashcraft’s doing, but his night was boosted by Joey Votto’s three-run home run to right field to make it a 3-0 game in the bottom of the first inning against Nationals starter Joan Adon. In a five-run seventh, Reynolds led off with a solo homer and Farmer added a three-run blast.
“When you’re pitching that well, you need little support,” Votto said. “He was really solid today.”