How Brewers' Aaron Ashby Has Earned Hilarious Nickname From Teammates

Nine wins by June will earn some head tilts

May 13, 2026; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Aaron Ashby (26) pitches in the eighth inning against the San Diego Padres at American Family Field. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-Imagn Images | Benny Sieu-Imagn Images

Milwaukee Brewers reliever Aaron Ashby is having an anomaly of a year.

In 26 appearances, all out of the bullpen, Ashby has a 9-0 won-lost record. Those nine wins are the most of any pitcher in Major League Baseball; it's like a joke that's already lasted longer than expected. He just keeps finding ways to earn favorable decisions, and that's earned him a humorous, appropriate nickname.

"Yeah, the vulture," Ashby said during his Tuesday appearance on the "Foul Territory" podcast. "Murph hasn't specifically hit me with that one yet, but the rest of the team has."

Ashby's "Vulture" nickname has lineage

Ashby leads three pitchers -- Davis Martin, Chris Sale, and Gavin Williams -- across the league by one win for the major league lead. The last time a reliever led MLB in wins for an entire season was... never, though Elroy Face came close with 18 in 1959, which is the gold standard of bullpen vulturing.

Ashby isn't alone in recent Brewers history in mastering the art of the vulture, however.

"When I was here in (2021, 2022), Brent Suter, one of my favorite teammates, was the vulture of the team. I think he had like 10 wins by the break or something crazy, or maybe in the year," Ashby said. "Every time he came in from getting a vulture win, they'd have a vulture statue in his locker. I haven't gotten there yet. I don't know if that's coming."

Suter went 12-5 for the Brewers during that 2021 season, making just nine starts and pitching in relief 52 times. He was the first pitcher on the team that year to reach double-digit wins, and he wound up finishing with one more than Corbin Burnes, who won the Cy Young Award that same season.

Ashby has yet to go more than five appearances in a row this season without recording a win, and last season, no one across the majors got to the 20 mark. It's unlikely he can keep this up, maybe, but not impossible.

In the meantime, Ashby will surely be happy as long as the 37-21 Brewers keep winning games.

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