CHICAGO - The Pirates are going with a different arm for Thursday’s series opener at Wrigley Field.
With Braxton Ashcraft scratched from his scheduled start and placed on the 15-day injured list because of right-side discomfort, Pittsburgh will hand the ball to rookie right-hander Wilber Dotel against the Chicago Cubs on Sept. 11.
It will be the first MLB start for Dotel, who has spent this season working mostly out of the bullpen for the Pirates. Across five stints in the majors, he has made 17 relief appearances, with outings that have stretched as long as four innings and as short as one. He also just logged two innings of relief in Pittsburgh’s 9-3 win over the Chicago White Sox on Sept. 8 at Rate Field.
Dotel’s path to this spot included a long run as a starter in the minors, where he made 81 starts in 96 games before 2026. Pittsburgh is asking him to bridge some innings again here, and his ability to work deeper than a typical reliever gives the club a useful option in a bullpen game.
The right-hander’s 2026 numbers have been strong overall. Two June outings, in which he allowed 10 earned runs over 1.2 innings, left a dent in the stat line, and those games were followed by a 15-day injured list stay because of a right lat muscle strain.
Outside of that stretch, he has posted a 1.93 ERA. In the second half, he’s been even sharper, putting up a 2.51 ERA over eight games and 14.1 innings with 19 strikeouts, nine walks, a .245 BAA and a 1.26 WHIP.
Dotel also brings real velocity. His four-seam fastball can get to 100 mph and has averaged 98.3 mph, and he mixes in a slider and cutter.
If he can give the Pirates two or three innings without much damage, that would be a big win for a club piecing together the rest of the outing from the bullpen.
Pittsburgh has plenty of options behind him. The Pirates have 10 other pitchers in the bullpen who could see action against the Cubs, including rookie right-handers Khristian Curtis and Antwone Kelly, both of whom are starting pitchers in the minors and could handle bulk work. Middle relievers Carmen Mlodzinski and Yohan Ramírez are also available if Pittsburgh doesn’t lean on its rookies.
The team could also turn to right-hander Lake Bachar or left-handers Brandon Eisert and Gregory Soto. Right-hander Luke Weaver and left-hander Mason Montgomery will not be available after pitching in the past two games.
In Other News...
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The timing is especially rough for a Pirates staff already bracing for a bullpen game in the next turn through the rotation. Pittsburgh moved quickly to bring up a right-hander from Triple-A Indianapolis to fill Ashcrafts roster spot, but the larger concern is the loss of a young arm the club would have rather protected as it finished the year. A season that had already tested the Pirates pitching depth just got a little thinner. [Read more 🡒]
Pirates Rotation Pressure Just Got Worse With Braxton Ashcraft Concern
Braxton Ashcrafts rapid rise from a lower-workload role to a meaningful part of the Pirates rotation picture hit a snag this week, as the right-hander was placed on the 15-day injured list retroactive to Sept. 7 because of right arm discomfort. Early indications suggest the issue does not appear structural, but testing is still ongoing, leaving the club to wait and see how long it might be without one of its more intriguing arms.
For Pittsburgh, the timing adds another layer of strain to a rotation that already has Mitch Keller on the injured list. Ashcrafts workload had jumped significantly from the previous season, and the Pirates were trying to see how much he could handle as the year wore on. Instead, they are now juggling another pitching question at a point in the schedule where every healthy starter matters. [Read more 🡒]