Pirates pitching prospect Braxton Ashcraft, RHP Chase De Jong undergo surgeries

The Pittsburgh Pirates lost a third pitching prospect to Tommy John surgery this season in High-A Greensboro right-hander Braxton Ashcraft, ranked No. 22 by MLB Pipeline.

Pirates director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk confirmed Wednesday afternoon that Ashcraft was injured last week and underwent surgery after Ashcraft posted a post-op photo of himself on Instagram.

According to Braxton Ashcraft’s IG he has torn his UCL ? pic.twitter.com/Nei57p5vM0

— Pirates Unrestricted (Rodolfo Stan) (@P_Unrestricted) August 3, 2021

Tomczyk said Ashcraft was injured last week, consulted with and was examined by team doctors and received a second opinion from Dr. Keith Meister. Tomcyzk said the 6-foot-5, 195-pound Ashcraft, a second-round pick in 2018 who was 1-1 with a 5.35 ERA, 41 strikeouts and 12 walks in 10 starts, is expected to make a full recovery in 14-16 months.

The Pirates have been proactive in protecting their pitchers by limiting their pitch counts and innings because of the spring training shutdown and no minor-league season last year amid the coronavirus pandemic, yet have lost right-handed reliever Blake Cederlind and starter Jose Soriano to Tommy John surgeries this year.

“I’m very in tune with what’s going on in our own organization but also take a 30,000-foot view and see what’s going on in the industry throughout the major leagues and minor leagues and, unfortunately, elbow injuries and forearm injuries are up,” Tomczyk said.

Tomczyk said Tommy John surgery for pitchers “continue to go up,” and that ligament damage might have occurred prior to their arrival in the major leagues despite teams seeking solutions for prevention.

“The silver lining is that the physicians have refined the surgeries and are actually evolving it as we speak to make these procedures provide longevity to pitchers,” Tomczyk said. “Not only do they get back to their previous level of competition but they excel and perform and get to levels above and beyond. So there is optimism, at least amongst the rehab people, that despite the high number of players undergoing these surgeries, the outcomes are very positive and players will be able to continue their dream of playing major-league baseball.”

The Pirates also have been cautious in dealing with the forearm soreness of Double-A right-hander Roansy Contreras and shortstop Oneil Cruz, top-10 prospects in their minor-league system.

Tomczyk said the Pirates “want to make sure that we cross all the boxes off, from an informatics to a coaching and player development perspective to a health and safety perspective, but if indeed there’s time left on the calendar for these guys to compete, that definitely is the main goal.”

In other Pirates injury news:

• Right-hander Chase De Jong had knee surgery last week and returned to Pittsburgh to resume his physical therapy. To make room for left-hander Steven Brault on the 40-man roster, the Pirates transferred De Jong from the 10-day injured list to 60-day IL.

• Right-handed pitcher Trevor Cahill (left foot) was re-examined last week by the team’s foot and ankle specialist, Dr. James Sferra, who confirmed that there were “multiple fractures in the foot and an injury to one of the main ligaments in the foot.” Tomczyk said Cahill is expected to miss 8-12 weeks, which effectively rules him out for the rest of the season.

• Infielder Erik Gonzalez and first baseman Colin Moran, who are at Triple-A Indianapolis on rehabilitation assignments, “have been responding well to the rehab games.”

• Outfielder Ka’ai Tom is with the Pirates in Milwaukee and is taking batting practice on the field, running the bases and fielding his position.

• Left-hander Sam Howard has resumed playing catch out to 120 feet and started a slope and mound progression.