Who is No. 2 in Rotation Behind Paul Skenes? Pirates Might Have Their Answer
There’s only one pitcher in baseball you could argue might be better than Paul Skenes. That would be Tarik Skubal of the Detroit Tigers, the winner of the last two American League Cy Young awards.
Skenes and Skubal are clearly the two best pitchers in baseball as evident by the fact that both enter the 2026 as the reigning Cy Young in their respective leagues and the favorites to win again.
For the Pittsburgh Pirates, Skenes headlines what was a strong starting rotation in 2025 and what looks to again be a strength of the team again this season. In addition to Skenes, the Pirates have Mitch Keller, Braxton Ashcraft, Bubba Chandler and a couple guys vying for the fifth spot, likely as a placeholder until Jared Jones returns from injury.
Of the bunch, who should be considered the No. 2 behind Skenes?
Keller is the most veteran presence of the bunch. Chandler has the most upside. Jones flashed some really good stuff during his rookie season in 2024. And while all three players possess some pedigree and/or potential, it’s Braxton Ashcraft who looks like the second-best starter on the staff.
Ashcraft made his MLB debut last season and pitched primarily out of the bullpen in a multi-inning role to monitor his workload but also received a handful of starts. It was a raving success for the right-hander.
Ashcraft finished the season 4-4 with a 2.71 ERA and 71 strikeouts in 69.2 innings across 26 appearances/eight starts. After making his debut on May 26, only five National League pitchers to record at least 60 innings had a better ERA than Ashcraft, one being Skenes who led the way (1.74).
In his eight starts, Ashcraft had a sparkling 2.16 ERA and he posted a still-impressive 3.22 mark when pitching out of the bullpen.
So far this spring, it looks like Ashcraft picked up right where he left off. Through four starts in the Grapefruit League, the 26-year-old has a 2.03 ERA and has struck out 16 batters against only one walk in 13.1 innings. On Wednesday night against the Detroit Tigers, he allowed one unearned run on five hits with eight strikeouts and no walks in 5.1 innings.
A second-round pick of the Pirates out of high school in 2018, Ashcraft’s professional career has been riddled with injuries. Prior to the start of last season in which he combined for a career-high 118 innings between Triple-A Indianapolis and Pittsburgh, Ashcraft had a total of 235 innings in the minor-leagues and never threw more than 73 innings in one season.
Given his injury history, there will always be concerns about durability. But with a fully-healthy season under his belt, the expectation is that Ashcraft will be in a full-time rotation role for the 2026 season.
With Skenes and Ashcraft atop the starting rotation, the Pirates look to have a very formidable one-two punch.
More about:Pirates