2019 Brew Crew Ball community top prospects in review: #10 Aaron Ashby

Aaron Ashby rounds out the top-10 Brew Crew Ball community prospects. This was the lefty’s first year of full-season ball. Milwaukee took him in the 2018 June draft out of junior college and he continued building on his impressive start in the organization.

Ashby’s first stop was with the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers. Over the course of 11 games and 61 innings, he rocked a 3.54 ERA with an 11.8 K/9. The very impressive K numbers came with some pretty significant control issues, to the tune of a 4.1 BB/9. Hitters were getting on base for free against him, but they weren’t really hitting him. Ashby only allowed 6.9 H/9 at Wisconsin and just 0.6 HR/9.

While his initial month with Wisconsin wasn’t very good, his May was fantastic. In 30.1 innings, he allowed just a 2.37 ERA and .660 opponent slugging. That fantastic performance was enough to bump him up to the Carolina League with the Mudcats.

For as hot as his May was, June was his best month of 2019. Through four games and 26 innings, he allowed just five runs while striking out 28. His performance started to dip in July as he started to experience decreased strikeout numbers. He went on a two-week IL stint and returned to finish the season in Carolina with three games, 8.1 innings and only gave up two runs while punching out 9.

In September, the Brewers honored him as a 2019 Robin Yount Performer of the Year, identifying him as the team’s choice for best pitcher in their farm system for the season. He’ll likely return to Carolina to start 2020, but it’s very possible that we see him at AA at some point in the season.

What are your thought on Ashby? Is he a future starter or does he slot better in relief? How long until he’s in the majors? Let us know in the comments below.