Phillies Hot Prospect Alec Asher to the DL
By Matt Veasey
The Philadelphia Phillies have placed one of their hottest pitching prospects on the minor league disabled list.
At the trade deadline last season the Phillies pulled off their big Hamels deal with Texas, landing a boatload of players in return that has helped rocket the organization up the prospect rankings.
Jerad Eickhoff has already established himself as a member of the Phils starting pitching rotation. Jake Thompson, Nick Williams, and Jorge Alfaro are now among the club’s most valued young properties.
But the player who disappointed the most after the deal turned out to be pitcher Alec Asher. Promoted to the Phillies in late August for his big league debut, Asher crashed and burned.
Over seven starts, the now 24-year old righty went 0-6 with a 9.31 ERA. He allowed 42 hits in 29 innings with just a 16/10 K:BB ratio, and had just one effective outing at Miami on September 24th.
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Clearly, Asher needed more minor league seasoning. At spring training a couple of months back, Asher’s results looked about the same, as he allowed seven earned runs and 10 hits over eight innings in the Grapefruit League.
However, something different was definitely going on with him. Asher had a 14/3 K:BB ratio in those 10 innings.
Asher was assigned to AA Reading at the start of the season, and was promoted to AAA Lehigh Valley after just four outings. He has been nothing short of a revelation, and has put himself squarely back on the serious prospect map.
This year at the two combined levels, Asher has gone 4-2 with a 2.30 ERA and a 35/7 K:BB ratio. He has allowed just 39 hits in 54.2 innings across eight minor league starts.
However, his road back to the big leagues has hit what appears to be a minor speed bump. The Phillies placed Asher on the minor league disabled list with what has been described as a calf contusion suffered when he was hit by a comebacker in the 7th inning of what had been a sensational start against Syracuse.
The DL placement was made retroactive to May 18th, and the organization does not believe this will be a longterm setback. The hope is that he will be able to return when first eligible in early June.
Meanwhile, another starting pitcher who has been faring well gets a shot. Ben Lively, the righty obtained from the Cincinnati Reds in the Marlon Byrd trade, was promoted from Reading to take Asher’s spot.
Should Lively pitch as well with the IronPigs as he has been for the Fightin’ Phils, he main remain at Lehigh Valley even after Asher returns.