So say you!
Graham Ashcraft brings a devastating cutter to the mound each and every time he steps upon it, at times humming it up and under the elbows of his opponents at nearly 100 mph. Paired with a slider that often tops 90 mph itself, he’s become quite the two-pitch pitcher at this juncture of his career, the kind that often makes an elite relief option.
He’s appeared in 70 games in his career, yet in precisely none of those has he ever picked up a single save. Still, you revealed in the latest MLB Reacts results that you think he’s the current best option to be the closer for the Cincinnati Reds.
Emilio Pagán, who’s been filling the role for much of the year since the injury (and stumbles) from former closer Alexis Díaz, finished runner-up in this admittedly abbreviated list of options, with someone else not listed at all garnering more votes than lefty Taylor Rogers and the former closer himself.
It’s hardly a ringing endorsement of the state of the back-end of the Cincinnati bullpen which, to date, has pitched to a collective 4.90 FIP that ranks as the second-worst in all of baseball. They’ve also already blown 4 saves, which puts them tied for 11th in the middle of the pack in that regard.
How quickly manager Terry Francona moves to readdress the bullpen hierarchy remains to be seen, but it’s hardly looked like either a set-in-stone progression or a well-oiled machine so far in 2025.
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