Ashby joined the Brewers' taxi squad in Philadelphia and could be formally called up from Triple-A Nashville to start or work as a bulk reliever in Wednesday's game against the Phillies, Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.
Ashby appears poised to slide into the rotation spot that belonged to Robert Gasser, who is awaiting a second opinion on his sore elbow and is expected to land on the 15-day injured list and miss out on at least a couple of starts. In his lone start for Milwaukee this season back on April 9 in Cincinnati, Ashby was blitzed for eight runs (four earned) in 3.2 innings. Upon returning to Nashville after that game, Ashby continued to struggle in his subsequent seven outings at Triple-A (9.54 ERA, 2.54 WHIP and 30:30 K:BB in 26.1 innings), but he's righted the ship over his past two starts. He delivered his best performance of the season in his most recent of the two starts Friday versus Memphis, striking out five over seven scoreless frames while allowing two hits and three walks. With Gasser set to go on the shelf and the Brewers still waiting on Joe Ross (back), Jakob Junis (shoulder) and DL Hall (knee) to return from the IL, Ashby could be in store for multiple turns through the rotation if he fares reasonably well Wednesday.