The Pittsburgh Pirates didn’t stand pat on Friday despite seeing their scheduled series opener against the visiting Milwaukee Brewers rained out.
Pittsburgh sent the 34th overall pick in the upcoming MLB Draft and left-hander Jaden Woods to the Chicago White Sox in exchange for infielder Jacob Gonzalez and left-handed pitcher Brandon Eisert. The trade will give the Pirates some flexibility as they deal with the absence of infielder Konnor Griffin (torn finger tendon).
Pirates general manager Ben Cherington was pleased with the trade.
“We believe in this team and discussed multiple ways to use the comp pick to strengthen it,” Cherington said.
“Jacob Gonzalez can complement Nick Gonzales and Jared Triolo on the left side of the infield in Konnor Griffin’s absence. He’s also a versatile left-handed hitter who has taken significant steps this season and who we believe in long-term.
“Brandon Eisert makes us even deeper in left-handed relief.”
Back to matters on the field, the starters for Saturday’s first game of the doubleheader were not immediately known, although Pirates All-Star Braxton Ashcraft (9-3, 3.24 ERA) likely will square off against fellow right-hander Brandon Sproat (3-4, 5.13) of the Brewers.
Milwaukee planned to send rookie left-hander Shane Drohan (4-2, 2.97 ERA) to the mound for Game 2 against Pittsburgh right-hander Bubba Chandler (3-8, 4.82).
Ashcraft has given the Pirates such length this season, pitching at least six innings in 12 of his 18 starts. He has 122 strikeouts over 108 1/3 innings this season.
“He’s one of the best pitchers in the game, and I don’t really think you can argue that,” teammate Paul Skenes said about Ashcraft. “All the numbers say that, too. Obviously, he’s having a good year. Recognition and going to the All-Star Game is not the end-all, be-all by any means. But he deserves it, and he’s not the only one.”
Ashcraft was named an All-Star replacement with Skenes unable to pitch in the Midsummer Classic since he is scheduled to start this Sunday. Pittsburgh is 12-6 this season in games Ashcraft starts, and he has allowed two runs or fewer in 13 of his 18 starts.
Ashcraft will make his second career start against Milwaukee. On June 23 of last year, he received a no-decision after allowing one hit over three scoreless innings.
The Brewers have won each of the past four times Sproat has pitched. That includes Sproat’s most recent outing this past Sunday against Arizona, which was not his most efficient. Sproat, who has never faced the Pirates, threw 92 pitches in four innings, walked three, struck out four and gave up one run on five hits in his team’s 3-2 win.
While Milwaukee did get quality starts from most of its rotation during its four wins against the St. Louis Cardinals this week, it could use a better performance from Sproat.
The Brewers continue to find ways to win, even though they entered Thursday’s game batting .209 as a team with runners in scoring position over a 17-game stretch, which ranked 28th out of 30 MLB teams.
“We find a way in ‘winning time’ in those last few innings to push something across,” Milwaukee designated hitter/outfielder Christian Yelich said. “We manufacture something even though things aren’t going our way the last few weeks. You run into those stretches during a baseball season, and you have to find ways to survive them.”
Drohan picked up his first win in nearly one month on Monday after allowing three runs (one earned) over six innings in a 4-3 victory over the Cardinals. In his second career game back in April, he faced the Pirates and pitched the sixth through ninth innings of a 6-0 loss, surrendering three runs (one earned) on four hits.
Chandler endured his second straight rough outing on Sunday after yielding four runs on six hits and four walks in four innings of a no-decision versus the Washington Nationals. He was blitzed in his lone career meeting with Milwaukee, permitting nine runs on nine hits in 2 2/3 innings of a 10-2 loss on Sept. 7.
–Field Level Media
