Had a short chat with Braxton Ashcraft today and was curious what he learned most during a first half of the Major League Baseball calendar in which he had a 2.05 ERA and 1.27 WHIP over 11 appearances. He also struck out 19 and walked six over 22 innings. 

Ashcraft told me that, during his entire career as a starter, he tried to find ways to save some of his stuff for later in games and the third or fourth time through opposing lineups. He did that so hitters could see something different that they may not have seen before, or have limited exposure to. Now, as a reliever, Ashcraft is adapting to having to go to his best stuff immediately and recognizing what he has on a certain day to better equip himself. 

"In the bullpen and within the first couple pitches of the game, you have to recognize the way your body's feeling and take from previous outings and previous times of throwing," he said. "Understanding like, 'Hey, my body feels this way. That ball feels a certain way in my hand, or this is how it feels coming out and I know that this is what works best and plays the best based on the feel that I had that day.' Just being super hyper aware of that, and being able to go to that right now, as opposed to having the runway to kind of feel that out and figure that out throughout the first, second, or third inning, and then really settle in and start getting those quick outs later in the game to extend your outing. That has to be done from pitch one out of the pen, especially whenever guys are on base. It's just learning what I do best, and if I don't have what I do best, being able to go to what I do second-best and make that my best that day. I think that's going to, in the event that I do work my way back into the first inning, help me be a better starter. If not, then I can build on that and continue to be the best reliever I can be."