Graham Ashcraft

[HokieRed]

The K rate is a concern.

[westofyou]

Or maybe with two pitches they had a 50/50 chance of guessing the pitch.

True, he did only throw 2.2% sinkers. His bombing vs the CWS he threw 13% and since then he's been leaning more on the FB/Slider combo. He has good movement on his FB, but he does need to use his third pitch more and looks like he is unsure about it

[membengal]

He has more than two pitches, no idea, again, why he is not throwing all of his assortment.

[membengal]

He's got more than two pitches, Greene has more than two pitches, I am starting to wonder what the plan is when those guys take the mound and who is calling the pitches.

[Wayne Krivsky]

The K rate is a concern.

I'm actually not super concerned about his K rate. During his rough stretch the past few weeks he has 14 Ks in 17 innings....now to be fair when you're getting hit hard you'll face more batters which can make that number a little misleading. Still when you look back from last season to today there is oddly no consistent correlation between his Ks and runs allowed.

I think with Ashcraft it's really about having command of the bottom of the zone (hes been living way too much over the middle), and developing a 3rd pitch to throw more than 3-5 times per game. I'm actually amazed he's done as well as he has with the cutter/slider combo this year, especially as a righty. In reality hes taking two pitches that break a similar way and trying to beat hitters through location and two different velocities. Getting his sinker or changeup to play at the major league level gives him a whole lot more room for error.

The biggest concern I have for Ashcraft is the Reds lack of quality defenders, especially in the IF. I think he can be Brandon Webb type of pitch to contact player, but it's tough to do when the majority of your roster are liabilities in the field.

[paulrichjr]

To me he looked like he didn't have good command yesterday. Maybe it was tipping...its possible but when I was watching him he just looked like he was struggling hitting his spots.

[herbdizzle]

While Ashcraft and Greenes recent struggles are worth examining let's not get too overboard. They each still have less than a full season of major league starts. The adjustment and readjusting phases for both are still going on.

[Ron Madden]

In the bottom of the fifth inning, the Cubs had a runner on base and reliever Lucas Sims was warming up in the bullpen.

Ashcraft has struggled in these moments recently, but he got out of this inning with a great cutter that forced an inning-ending double play. Ashcraft didn’t stay in the game for the sixth inning even though he only threw 92 pitches.

But the second half of his start on Sunday gave him something to build on. Ashcraft, who picked up the win, flexed and pounded his glove to celebrate as he walked off the field.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/mlb...bs/ar-AA1bOINq

[VR]

Casali has caught him 3 times. 6 innings each outing. 3 runs TOTAL for him in those 3. Helloooooo.


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[Tom Servo]

I am starting to think old Ashy might NOT be the ace and superior pitcher to Hunter Greene like many here were claiming.

[westofyou]

I nominate Ashcraft as ace of the staff. He wasnt a first found pick or has a 100 mile plus fastball but he goes out and gives a solid performance and dosent gas the bullpen while keeping the score down. We dont have to speak of potential with him because he is an ace NOW.

Baseball is a humbling game

[Old school 1983]

Might need to be flip flopped with Abbott

[RiverRat13]

There’s no reason to give up on Ashcraft, but this is why people claiming that the Reds had the top 3 rotations spots locked down for the next few years were silly to do so. We will be fortunate if two of those guys become above average starters. Counting on all three to get there is heads in the clouds type stuff.

[Old school 1983]

There’s no reason to give up on Ashcraft, but this is why people claiming that the Reds had the top 3 rotations spots locked down for the next few years were silly to do so. We will be fortunate if two of those guys become above average starters. Counting on all three to get there is heads in the clouds type stuff.

I’m not giving up on him. He obviously has the stuff. He might need the check up from the neck up that a stint in AAA might give him

[Sea Ray]

I’m not giving up on him. He obviously has the stuff. He might need the check up from the neck up that a stint in AAA might give him

He needs a halfway decent offspeed pitch if he's going to be a starter