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It looks like the time is nigh for Aaron Ashby’s arrival to the Milwaukee Brewers. According to a report by Jeff Passan of ESPN, Milwaukee plans to call the young lefty up and work him out of the bullpen.
Milwaukee is calling up left-hander Aaron Ashby, sources tell ESPN. Very impressive in spring training and has struck out 56 in 38 IP at AAA. Has also issued 24 walks. Expected to work out of the bullpen. Along with Ethan Small, he’s part of Brewers’ next generation of pitchers.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) June 29, 2021
Right now, he is not on the 40-man roster, so if he is in fact on the way to Milwaukee, expect a corresponding move off the current roster.
The nephew of former major leaguer, Andy Ashby, Aaron is one of the Brewers’ top prospects and is part of a trio of potentially impactful left-handed pitchers, Ethan Small and Antoine Kelly being the other two, coming quickly through the Brewers’ farm system.
The Brewers selected Ashby in the fourth round in 2018 out of Crowder Junior College. Since that draft, the left-hander has done nothing but get better. Milwaukee recently moved him to the bullpen in Nashville for what looked like a precursor for an eventual call up.
In Nashville, Ashby has struck out 13.26 per 9 so far this season, but his control has been suspect. So far he has walked 5.68 per 9.
Many of us will remember how dominant he was in Spring Training this year. Ashby displayed a wipe out slider and a solid fastball as he made opposing hitters look lost back in March. It is quite possible that the Brewers’ organization was comfortable letting Drew Rasmussen and J.P. Feyereisen go for Willy Adames based in part on their confidence in Ashby.
Baseball statistics courtesy of Fangraphs