Ashcraft Escapes, Minors Surge and Pitching Plans Get Real

Braxton Ashcraft escapes two jams, Shohei Ohtani scratches his start but still hits, and the Pirates shut out the Dodgers. Then we dive into a full minor league check-in: stats, stories, rankings, and ETAs on Griffin, Barco, Florentino, Johnson, Stafura, Flores, Harrington, and Sanford. Finally, we break down the Pirates’ pitcher usage in August and what it means for 2026—can we trust the results?