Pro-Baseball Notebook: Amidst breakout year, Ashcraft briefly placed on injured list
Following a stellar start last week, Robinson product Braxton Ashcraft was placed on the seven-day injured list on June 28, according to MLB.com's transaction tracker.
Coming into the year with a clean bill of health, Ashcraft quickly surfaced as one of the Pittsburgh Pirates' top pitching prospects this season. The former Rocket is listed as the Bucs' No. 6 prospect on MLB Pipeline and is projected to be called up to the big leagues sooner rather than later
Ashcraft was promoted to Triple A Indianapolis on June 11 and had posted three dominant starts. Against the Washington Nationals' Triple A Rochester last Tuesday, the right-hander allowed five hits and two walks while striking two and adding and doubling his scoreless innings streak. During his time in Triple A, Ashcraft holds a 0.59 ERA and with 10 strikeouts and a 0.98 WHIP.
Prior to the start, Ashcraft told MLB.com writer Alex Stumpf that he felt the healthiest he ever had as a professional player.
"It's nice to go out again and know I don't have a three-inning limit," Ashcraft told Stumpf. "More or less a full starter workload. Not have to worry about scheduled deloads, all that jazz. Just being able to go out and pitch every six days. ..."At this point this year, I don't think I've ever felt better, healthier — whatever you want to phrase it as — as a pitcher in my career."
The Pirates selected Ashcraft's contract last November to protect their then No. 12 prospect from the Rule 5 Draft and the placed him on for 40-man roster to begin the year. The Robinson native took part in spring training before kicking off a standout minor league season with Double A Altoona. With the Curve, he posted a 3.69 ERA over 11 games, 10 of them starts, and picked up a complete game on May 14.
In his final Double A start, Ashcraft notched a career-best 12 strikeouts on June 6 against Richmond, the Giants' affiliate.
Horn makes MLB debut for Red Sox
Former West and McLennan pitcher Bailey Horn made his MLB debut for the Boston Red Sox on Friday night. It was a tough introduction for the former Trojan as the Red Sox dropped the contest 9-2 followed by a series loss on Saturday.
Horn tossed 2.2 innings of relied, allowing just two runs on four hits and two walks while recording his first two major league strikeouts.
Langeliers powers A's comeback
With his 15th homer of the season, former Baylor backstop Shea Langeliers aided the Athletics in late inning comeback over Arizona on Saturday, snapping an 11-game losing streak for the AL West squad.
Langeliers ranks 13th in the American League in home runs so far this season. The Keller native is hitting .202 with 41 RBI, which rank 23rd in the league. The catcher, however, also ranks 24th in the AL with 73 strikeouts.
In his last seven games, Langeliers is hitting .240 with six hits and three runs scored, two of them longballs.
Crooks falls just short of cycle
Former McLennan Highlander Jimmy Crooks posted a three-hit, two-RBI night for Double A Springfield, the St. Louis Cardinals affiliate, on Sunday against the Arkansas Travelers.
Crooks got Springfield on the board with a triple in the first and added a double in the third before bashing his third homer of the year in the sixth. The former Highlander has risen to become the Cardinals' No. 11 prospect.
In 2024 he's hitting .302 with an OBP of .413 and an OPS of .855 and has driven in 26 runs with 52 hits while scoring 20.
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