Graham Ashcraft

[redsfan9988]

What struck me yesterday was how well he seemed to execute the plan. It was overwhelmingly sinkers and cutters the first time through the order. The second and third times, he relied much more on the breaking ball - and threw it very well. It’s pretty sick to watch a dude pumping 99 mph cutters and sinkers and come away thinking, “wow, what a great slider!”

I’ll admit I’ve always had Ashcraft pegged as a future closer. I’m glad to look dumb so far! If this guy ends up being legit - it’s quite a feather-in-the-cap of the Reds’ pitching development guys. This is a 6th round pick who frankly never looked that great at UAB. Maybe this is our Corbin Burnes… that’s what markets like ours need to be competitive.

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[krm1580]

I don’t know if it’s his look, the 100mph stuff or the early success but everything about this guy reminds me of Joba Chamberlain when he came up with the Yankees

[Ron Madden]

Joel Luckhaupt
@jluckhaupt

Graham Ashcraft has thrown a pitch in 25 different innings in the big leagues.

He's never faced more than 5 batters in an inning.

He's thrown 20 or more pitches in an inning just thrice and never more than 23 pitches.

Today, his most in an inning is 15 pitches.

He's thrown 15 or fewer pitches in 17 of the 23 innings in which he's gotten all 3 outs.

It's not supposed to be this easy.

[RiverfrontRed]

Is this really happening or is it my imagination?

[0-2 Count]

He's pretty good.

[membengal]

The comp that has drifted into my mind for how he is pitching - especially given how hard he throws and how well he keeps the ball down - is Kevin Brown. Finding someone with Brown's skill set is HARD. But...in his early starts, that's who he is putting me in mind of.

[Ron Madden]

Stats By STATS
@StatsBySTATS

The @Reds are the first MLB team in the modern era to have a rookie starter throw 6.0+ shutout innings with no walks in back-to-back games

(Hunter Greene yesterday, Graham Ashcraft today).

[Ron Madden]

Charlie Goldsmith
@CharlieG__

Graham Ashcraft's cutter and his two-seam fastball cut in opposite directions. They either jam hitters or tail away at the last second.

The result is a lot of weak contact and ground balls.

[Kingspoint]

What's impressive to me is how quickly the REDS stated that Ashcraft was going to stay in the rotation after his Toronto start.

They were obviously incredibly impressed.

[Kingspoint]

The comp that has drifted into my mind for how he is pitching - especially given how hard he throws and how well he keeps the ball down - is Kevin Brown. Finding someone with Brown's skill set is HARD. But...in his early starts, that's who he is putting me in mind of.

What a name to pull out.

I remember Kevin Towers wanting pitchers who threw like this and he took over the Padres as G.M. in 1995. After the 1997 season, he added 32-year old Kevin Brown, and Brown responded with 1 year for the Padres, but finished 3rd in the Cy Young voting that season. They went to the World Series, and Kevin Towers rode that year to another dozen years of being at the helm of the Padres, never accomplishing as much as that one year that Kevin Brown gave him a spectacular season in San Diego. Yankees swept them 4-0.

[Patrick Bateman]

Favorable comps I was thinking about were Derek Lowe, and Tim Hudson.

Not quite Kevin brown, but who is?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[membengal]

the fact that he sits 97 and hits 100 drove me past the Lowe and Tim Hudson comps. That kind of power on the fastball combined with the ability to induce that much extreme ground ball contact is what put me in mind of Brown - at least early in his career Brown in terms of speed on the fastball.

Here's the wiki note as I double-check my mental comp on Brown:

Brown was a pitcher who had the rare talent of relying both on movement and velocity. His main pitch was a sinking fastball that averaged 91–96 mph, with tremendous tailing, downward movement. He could spot it to either side of the plate. Batters facing him generally pounded this pitch into the ground or missed it entirely. He complemented this pitch with a sharp slider in the high 80s and a solid split fingered fastball he used against left-handed hitters or for another look.[11]

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I mean, that 99 he painted on the outside black to preserve the shutout was absolute filth. In the 6th. He was happy inducing groundballs and outs until he got the guy on 3rd and one out in the 6th and then he was like, nope, I'm gonna K fools to strand the guy.

Anyway, it is an extraordinarily impressive set of debut starts for Moonlight. Between him and Greene, they've added joy back to the Reds season for me. I am grateful for that.

[cumberlandreds]

What I like about him is the way he minimizes pitches but when he needs it he can get the strike out. IMO, that is a mark of a very good pitcher.

[Ron Madden]

Graham Ashcraft did a fantastic job on Tuesday of picking up right where fellow rookie starting pitcher Hunter Greene left off on Monday.

The Greene-Ashcraft rookie combo is shaping up to be a nice under-the-radar story that would get more attention if the Reds didn't have a 20-35 record. According to Stats Inc., Cincinnati is the first MLB team in the modern era to have rookie starters throw six-plus shutout innings with no walks in back-to-back games.

Ashcraft cruised for a smooth six scoreless innings on 76 pitches as the Reds pounded out five home runs for a 14-8 victory over the D-backs at Great American Ball Park. He finished with three hits and no walks allowed while striking out four to improve to 3-0 with a 1.14 ERA and 0.85 WHIP over his first four starts in the big leagues.

"I was out there giving it all I’ve got, just throwing the dickens out of it," Ashcraft said.

"It's really special. I think we can all agree and enjoy watching it," Reds manager David Bell said.

"Graham is going to get his share of strikeouts. There's no question but more importantly, he gets outs, and a lot of those were on the ground. So quite a bit different, both very successful. It's going to be fun watching these guys for a long time."

full story here:
https://www.mlb.com/reds/news/graham...ss-appearances

[redsfan9988]

After throwing just 23.2 innings, Ashcraft leads the 2022 Reds in bWAR with 1.8 and is tied with Hunter Greene for the team lead in wins. This is both an amazing accomplishment for Ashcraft and sort of an indictment of the 2022 Reds roster.

I dig the Kevin Brown comps. The 99mph, tunneling two-seamer - cutter combo is impressive and as-advertised. But I really love the breaking ball. He throws an elevated, back door version he uses to get called strikes against lefties, and a low-wipeout version he uses to get swinging strikes against lefties and righties. He’s show a willingness to throw it early in counts and an ability to consistently throw it for strikes. Fun to watch.