GOODYEAR, Arizona – Now that Graham Ashcraft has moved to the Cincinnati Reds bullpen, the countdown is on for how long it takes him to become the team’s closer.
“At the end of the day, if I’m in the bullpen that’s where I want to be,” the burly right-hander said. “But you’ve also got to earn that spot. That’s the biggest thing.”
The other big thing is there has to be an opening. And 2023 All-Star closer Alexis Díaz has looked this spring like he’s creating one, putting himself in position for a possible minor-league demotion.
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At the very least, manager Terry Francona on Thursday wouldn’t come close to a vote of confidence when asked about Díaz’s status as his closer after another command-challenged outing this week in a minor-league game (as he works on his delivery with the pitching coach).
“I think we still have some work to do,” Francona said. “We want to make sure he’s got his legs under him, with his delivery and everything. We know what he can do. We just want to make sure he’s ready to do it.”
Yikes. Is there a closer in the house?
That might be part of the point with the Ashcraft move, which has been in play at least since the start of camp.
It at least makes his move to the bullpen the Reds’ personnel move of the spring as the season approaches less than a week away.
Ashcraft had been considered one of the Reds’ Big Three starting pitching prospects almost since he broke in during the 2022 season.
But for at least the last year the idea of taking his bulldog demeanor and fastball-slider mix into the high-leverage back end of the bullpen has percolated among Reds insiders.
“We’ve all kind of teetered on that idea and what it would look like,” pitching coach Derek Johnson said. “Obviously, we haven’t seen it so we don’t know. But he could be kind of that really nice piece in the bullpen that we didn’t have to go out and acquire. It’s a homegrown guy that has got a really good arm and the kind of disposition that it takes to pitch in (a late-inning role).”
A few hours after the team announced a series of decisions that included Carson Spiers taking the fifth starter’s job and Ashcraft’s bullpen move, Ashcraft came out of the bullpen to pitch three innings Thursday and face the minimum.
He pitched a 1-2-3 inning against the top of the Kansas City Royals order to start things off, striking out Michael Massey to end the frame, then walked the leadoff man in the next inning but erased the runner with an inning-ending double play.
His third inning of work was his quickest, including another strikeout.
Could he be this team’s closer?
“He’s certainly got the demeanor,” Johnson said. “He’s got the stuff.”
And the desire.
“I would think if they’re moving me to the bullpen, it’s not just to fill (any) role,” Ashcraft said.
He’s not likely to be the team’s first option as the season opens, even if Díaz has cleared out of the role at that point.
The Reds made sure to add ninth-inning depth near the end of the offseason with the acquisitions of former closers Taylor Rogers and Scott Barlow. Veteran Emilio Pagan also has ninth-inning experience. And hulking strikeout artist Tony Santillan has the stuff and the look.
“Things happen through the course of the year; things happen year to year,” Johnson said. “You might have to develop yourself a little bit as a reliever.
“But it’s not bad when you have two or three guys that you could look at and go, ‘He’s actually a closer.’ “
Johnson sometimes uses the term closer loosely — as in a certain late-inning guy might be a seventh-inning closer, or an eighth-inning closer.
When he was the pitching coach with the Milwaukee Brewers, Johnson had young multi-inning ace reliever Josh Hader, who was one of three pitchers on his 2018 staff with at least 12 saves and who evolved into the full-time actual ninth-inning closer.
As for Ashcraft, he might be the reliever to watch most closely this season if the Reds evolve into a late-season contender.
For now, Francona liked what he saw Thursday.
“He was really good about taking the challenge,” Francona said. “He seemed excited, and looked like it (Thursday), too.”
Said Ashcraft: “I don’t know what their plan is. I’m just going to go out there and do what I can and see where they want to put me.”
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Why Graham Ashcraft looks like Cincinnati Reds closer in the making
