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With the Pirates third pick, number 51 overall and tenth of the second round, they selected right-handed pitcher Braxton Ashcraft from Robinson Texas, a suburb of Waco. At 6-5 and 195 pounds while running a 4.6 second 40 yard dash, Ashcraft ws also a star on the football field, catching 34 touchdowns as a wide receiver his sophomore year and following that up with 37 touchdowns on 104 catches and 2090 yards as a junior - but he sat out football his senior year to focus on baseball.
Ashcraft sits in the low to mid 90’s with his fastball, touching 95, and is said to have a good slider and change. In his senior year he struck out 103 batters in 70 1⁄3 innings. A commit to Baylor, he played on the Under Armour All-American team in the summer of 2017, pitching a perfect inning with a pair of K’s in a game at Wrigley Field in Chicago.
Long and loose athletic body, outstanding physical projection. Long arm action in back, extended 3/4’s arm slot creates angle. Fastball to 92 mph, lots more in there with physical maturity, gets heavy sinking action down in the zone. Very nice change up with feel and arm speed. Throws both a slider and a change up, slider better pitch at present with tight spin and sharp lane changing life, curveball a 10/4 sweeper with some depth. Has a feel for spinning the ball and changing speeds. Has a chance to be really, really good with normal physical projection. Good student, verbal commitment to Baylor.