Jul. 5—Travis Lallemand had been anticipating the news for awhile.
And once he saw the name “Aaron Ashby” pop up on his phone last Tuesday morning, Lallemand was acutely aware of what his former pitcher would say before he even had a chance to speak on the other line.
The former Crowder College great was called up to the Majors, and he was set to join the Milwaukee Brewers for its series against the Chicago Cubs at American Family Field.
“Very exciting,” Lallemand said of Ashby getting the call “Obviously, it didn’t take him very long to make the climb (through the minor leagues) and I think that’s one of the most impressive things about it. I was very excited for him. I knew he was busy, so we didn’t have a lengthy conversation, but at the same time, I congratulated him again. I was excited they gave him the opportunity, finally.”
The 23-year-old Ashby became yet another player from the Roughrider program to reach the big leagues. His uncle Andy, who was in attendance for his MLB debut, is a part of that exclusive company.
Andy, a member of Crowder’s hall of fame, was a two-time All-Star and pitched at the highest level for 14 years.
“It was really cool,” Lallemand said. “Aaron is the first one who was drafted and signed directly out of Crowder. Some of the other guys went to four-year schools and then got drafted. Aaron’s a great representative and an ambassador for our program. As a coach, it’s a proud moment. Obviously, Aaron created all of that on his own and I’m happy for him.”
Ashby’s debut didn’t go swimmingly with the Brewers. He was in trouble right away.
Willson Contreras led off the game with a single and the Cubs loaded the bases with no outs. Javier Baez hit a two-run single and Willy Adames’ misplay let another run score and a bunt single produced a run.
After a double steal, a run-scoring wild pitch and two walks, Ashby exited with the bases loaded, two outs and trailing 5-0. Miguel Sanchez relieved and allowed a two-run single to Patrick Wisdom, which closed the book on Ashby.
In total, he was charged with seven runs, four of them earned, on four hits and three walks.
But Ashby has been in this situation before in his career. Ironically enough, he walked nine batters and gave up six runs in just 2/3 of an inning in his collegiate debut with Crowder a few years ago.
And still managed to come out an All-American.
“That’s where the character kicks in,” Lallemand said. “It’s not going to bother him. He’s very composed on the mound. That’s a big moment. It’s a funny connection. It’s striking similarities. I told him (last Wednesday) night, ‘You are right on pace to repeat what you did here and that’s pretty special. At the end of this, I guess, you will probably end up being an All-Star.'”
A day after his debut, the Brewers optioned Ashby to Triple-A Nashville. The organization will scale back his appearances to short relief stints moving forward, Milwaukee manager Craig Counsell told the media last week.
Ashby’s stuff certainly jumped off the page against the Cubs. He was ramping his fastball up to 95-97 miles per hour consistently and even touched 98.
“He was flashing some of those big numbers here,” Lallemand said. “His stuff was real. Late-movement and even the catcher (Omar Narvaez) had a tough time keeping the breaking ball in front. He was able to overwhelm with the changeup, which was one of the most underrated pitches he had while he was here just because he didn’t need it as much.
“Since he’s facing more right-handed hitters, he’s going to need that changeup. He got some really good swings and misses. He just had some unfortunate stuff happen with the ball (Javier) Baez hit inside the line and error by the shortstop, a few bad counts he ended up walking guys. Overall, his stuff played like a big-leaguer. There’s no doubt about it. He looked like he belonged up there.”
Lallemand sees Ashby being a big luxury out of the ‘pen for the Brewers, especially as he grows comfortable in the role.
“If you think about facing that guy one time as a hitter, I don’t know how you navigate that with the stuff he has,” Lallemand said. “If he gets lefties and righties out equally, that’s a pretty valuable thing with the new rules in baseball and the three-batter minimum. He’s one of those relievers that teams place a lot of value on because of what he can do against lefties and righties.
“What he did here and the model of character because everything didn’t line up perfectly when he started here, but he made it what it was. I think that’s what is impressive about his career here and his major-league career started off the same way. He’s a big-time character guy, who will carry through this. He won’t let it bother him too long. He will bounce right back.”