MLB’s Wins Co-Leader Is Yet Another Brewers Pitching Success Story

Brewers reliever Aaron Ashby went 2–10 during his last year as a starter. He's now electric out of the bullpen.

Brewers reliever Aaron Ashby has made the most of his limited innings so far 2026. | Benny Sieu-Imagn Images

Aaron Ashby had a tough 2022 campaign for the Brewers during which he posted a 2–10 record and a 4.44 ERA. In advance of spring training the next year, the southpaw hurt his left shoulder and a projected three-to-six week hiatus turned into him missing the entire season and undergoing surgery. It was an inauspicious opening act for an arm Milwaukee saw enough potential in to use a fourth-round pick on in the 2018 draft. But it also created an opportunity for both player and organization to pivot, and the results spoke for themselves.

Ashby returned as a reliever, making 12 of his 14 appearances out of the bullpen in '24 while turning in a 2.86 ERA and limiting opponents' power as a lefty-on-lefty option. His stuff plays against both sides of the plate, though. Ashby brings a sinking fastball at or near triple digits and pairs that with a darting changeup. His most visually captivating pitch, though, is a curveball that can find Clayton Kershaw-type planes. He is a brutal at-bat for any batters who fall behind and through the first few weeks of the season he's show himself to be in command.

After recording a scoreless inning against the Tigers in a Brewers' blowout victory on Tuesday night, Ashby has now thrown 15 innings in 2026. Despite that relatively low total, he is tied with the Angels' Jośe Soriano as the only players with five wins to their names. Now, there is a good reason why people argue that a win-loss record is not the best indication of a pitcher's performance. Picking up a win for every third inning completed is not a sustainable pace and it takes a combination of good timing and luck to snag a victory out of the bullpen.

But perhaps this stat is not complete fool's gold. Ashby has struck out 24 hitters in those 15 innings of work for a stunning 14.4 K/9. Those 24 punchouts put him one ahead of Paul Skenes, who has worked 22 frames. Statcast indicates that the Brewers’ unheralded weapon is in the 94th percentile when it comes to whiff rate (36.5%) and 97th in strikeout percentage (37%).

Ashby is coming off 43 appearances in '25 that yielded a 5–2 record and 2.16 ERA. His strong strikeout numbers remained consistent though he had an uneven postseason with too many walks. Milwaukee's World Series quest ended at the hands of the mighty Dodgers last fall but they've begun this season's challenge on the right foot. They’re 13-9 amid a group of five NL Central teams playing well above .500. Ashby figures to be a key piece of manager Pat Murphy's plan and will find himself once again in some high-leverage spots should the Brewers make the postseason.

Right now he's more than getting the job done with a few unsustainable stats. But there’s still enough to suggest that he’s more than capable of being one of the more devastating bullpen pieces in the sport even if he’s far from a household name at this point. That’s the Brewers’ way, after all.

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