BALTIMORE -- At first glance, you might be able to pass off that Braxton Ashcraft and Mike Burrows don’t play the same position, or maybe even the same sport.
Ashcraft, a broad-shouldered 6-foot-5 Waco, Texas, kid, gave up football in high school to pump fastballs with his blond locks twirling as he pushes towards the mound. Burrows, a native of Waterford, Conn., boasts as pristine a beard as you’re going to see in baseball. His slender 6-foot-1 frame looks closer to a middle infielder than a starting pitcher, and Ashcraft closer to a tight end.
First impressions can be deceiving. The two 25-year-old right-handed pitchers were once some of the Pirates’ top pitching prospects before injuries put a bump in their journey to the Majors. Watching them on the mound, they’ll both attack hitters with upper-90s heat and wicked sliders (not to mention a plus changeup for Burrows). There are plenty of organizations where the two would be penciled into a 2026 rotation, or at least be on the short list going into next Spring Training.
For the pitching-deep Pirates, though, there are no guarantees. At this point of the season, the yin and yang righties are effectively sharing a start day.
The two are having their workloads closely monitored down the stretch as they have already passed their career highs in innings, so they piggybacked Tuesday at Oriole Park. Burrows got the start and struck out six over four innings of one-run ball. Ashcraft came on in relief and was dinged for a solo shot in the sixth, but thanks to an assist from Kyle Nicolas, that would be the only run on his ledger over his three innings, which included four strikeouts.
Unfortunately for the Pirates, the duo’s effective piggyback outings were for naught. Tommy Pham gave them another chance with a game-tying home run in the ninth, and Dennis Santana and Isaac Mattson posted zeroes to keep the game going. But the offense couldn’t push either automatic runner in from second and the Orioles eventually sent the Bucs to a 3-2 loss in the 11th inning on a Samuel Basallo bloop.
Both Burrows and Ashcraft have had looks as a starter and a reliever this year. Some of that had to do with the playing time opportunities early in the year, some of it to better manage innings down the stretch. It’s a position that calls for some flexibility, and both have shown a willingness and ability to do so.
"It's second nature at this point,” Burrows said. “It's all the same. When they say 'Grab the ball,' I grab the ball and I go."
The results have generally been positive whenever they do get their shot. Ashcraft has pitched to a 2.47 ERA with 8.6 strikeouts per nine innings. Burrows lowered his ERA to 3.99 over 85 2/3 frames, striking out 88 along the way. Burrows has started more and Ashcraft has worked more as a reliever, but they’ve shown both stuff and a willingness to pitch in whatever role the team needs, two tremendous selling points as everyone looks towards 2026.
"Just love how they go about it every day,” manager Don Kelly said. “The stuff that they bring. They've shown the ability to start and also come out of the 'pen and the attitude to do either.”
September is usually the final showcase for players ahead of the offseason and the roster decisions that come with it, but Burrows and Ashcraft have been making their case all season. They’ve shown plenty. What do they hope the Pirates saw?
“[That] I want the ball,” Ashcraft said. “... I think at the end of the day, the willingness to fill roles boils down to wanting to take the ball and be on the bump. That’s how I grew up and that’s how I know this game. Go compete when you have the opportunity to. I’m looking to do more of that this year.”
And for Burrows?
"That I'm ready to compete when they say go,” Burrows answered.
How fitting is that? Yin and yang deliveries, but the same mentality.