Pittsburgh Pirates starter Braxton Ashcraft likely took the mound against the Washington Nationals with more butterflies in his stomach than normal. It wasn’t necessarily the opponent that added stress to Ashcraft’s start, it was what his catcher was about to reveal.
Ashcraft and his family decided to hold an on-field gender reveal ahead of the pitcher’s start Thursday. In order to do that, they decided to include Pirates catcher Joey Bart in the festivities.
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When Bart took the field for Ashcraft’s first-inning warm-up pitches, the catcher was going to wear a colored armband to reveal whether the Ashcrafts were having a boy or a girl.
Bart took the field wearing a pink armband, drawing a celebration from Ashcraft’s wife and family in the stands.
Bart seemed to genuinely enjoy the moment too. As he put his facemask on, the broadcast caught him with a huge grin on his face.
The on-field gender reveal isn’t necessarily new, but this version of it was unique. Back in April, Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Brandon Pfaadt wore pink laces on his shoes to let his brother and sister-in-law know they were having a girl. That gender reveal involved individuals who were watching at home, though. Thursday’s reveal involved literally the starting pitcher and his wife, who was at the game.
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The news gives Ashcraft another thing to be happy about this season. After showing promise at the end of last year, Ashcraft has looked like a breakout pitcher early this season. In his three starts prior to Thursday, Ashcraft had a 2.12 ERA, with 20 strikeouts through 17 innings.
Combine that with Thursday’s revelation, and it’s safe to say it’s been a pretty awesome April for Ashcraft thus far.
