Pirates pitchers Braxton Ashcraft, Mike Burrows taking advantage of various opportunities

Braxton Ashcraft and Mike Burrows have shown the Pirates what they are capable of during their rookie seasons.

The two right-handers have produced ERAs of 2.47 and 3.99, respectively, while taking the ball in a multitude of situations.

Burrows, who was called up April 24, has started 17 games and has appeared out of the bullpen three times while working 85 ⅔ innings, his largest workload since throwing 94 ⅓ innings in the minor leagues in 2022.

The Pirates called up Ashcraft on May 26 but moved him to the bullpen despite the right-hander starting 10 games for Triple-A Indianapolis this season and only making one relief appearance in his career. Still, he’s thrown 58 ⅓ innings and has started six of his 23 appearances while striking out 56 batters.

Both have lived up to expectations.

“I just love the way they go about it every day,” Pirates manager Don Kelly said Tuesday, according to the SportsNet Pittsburgh broadcast. “The stuff they bring, they’ve shown the ability to start and also come out of the ‘pen and the attitude to do either.”

At this point in the season, the Pirates are managing the innings of their young pitchers while still testing them and preparing them for the years ahead.

Burrows, who threw 56 pitches and struck out six Tuesday in his start against the Orioles, returned from Tommy John surgery last season and made his major-league debut against the New York Yankees in the Pirates’ final series of the season. He’s thrown over 80 innings just once in his professional career and is on pace to set a new career-high.

Ashcraft is in the same type of situation. The 25-year-old, who struck out four and allowed two hits against the Orioles on Tuesday, has been plagued by injuries and has just one professional season where he’s thrown over 60 innings. Yet, he’s dominated whatever role in which he’s been used. He’s worked high-leverage situations, has covered multiple innings out of the bullpen and has started games.

“I want the ball. I think that in this situation, with where we’re at as a team, they are asking a lot of us to be versatile and fill different roles out of necessity, really,” Ashcraft said. “It’s more of a good necessity in terms of us being healthy at this point in the season and exceeding previous seasons in terms of pitch counts and innings pitched and time pitched, really, especially for me. So, ultimately, for me, it’s good. It’s good to still be pitching in September.

“Obviously, we wish we were pitching into October, but, ultimately, I think at the end of the day, the willingness to fill roles, it boils down to just wanting to take the ball and be on the bump. That’s how I grew up, that’s how I know this game. It’s go compete when you have the opportunity to, and I’m looking to do some more of that this year.”

Both pitchers have had their share of ups and downs. Burrows allowed four earned runs in his first two starts in May, producing a 8.64 ERA. He was able to settle down in June when he recorded a 2.73 ERA over six starts, allowing more than two earned runs just once.

Ashcraft didn’t allow a run during his first four appearances as he worked in a long-relief role and covered 7 ⅓ innings at the end of May and into June. However he struggled slightly at the beginning of August, allowing six earned runs over three relief appearances.

Still, the two young arms have become accustomed to life at the major-league level and what it takes to succeed. They’ve adjusted to how hitters are game planning for them and have honed their craft to have success at this level.

But their most important quality of their first season in the major leagues has been their willingness to work in whatever situations they’ve been asked.

“When they say grab the ball, I grab the ball and I go,” Burrows said.