Just like a lot of baseball players, Phillies prospect Cody Asche is from a small Midwest town. Starting out in O’Fallon, Missouri, Asche has made a name for himself in the Phillies organization at third base.
The Phillies 4th-round draft pick in the 2011 out of the University of Nebraska, Asche had a rough start to his professional career. Asche was a monster coming out of high school. In his senior year he was tabbed as an All-American after a stellar season in which he batted .512 with 3 home runs and 25 RBIs. In his 2010 campaign with the Cornhuskers, he batted .311 with 10 HRs and 58 RBIs, some pretty impressive numbers.
Cody Asche throwing out a runner in his first spring training appearance.
In his first year with the Williamsport Crosscutters, he played in 68 games batting a horrific .192 with 15 errors in the field. Whether it was just a fluke or if it was just Asche getting used to the next level, he rebounded in 2012. He moved up the ranks to the Clearwater Threshers and eventually to the Double-A Reading Phillies. Hitting .349 during a 62-game span in Clearwater got him some recognition. When he was moved up to Reading, there was a negligible dip in his production. He batted .300, tallying 10 more homers, 47 more RBIs, and 20 more doubles in 68 games for the RPhils.
Asche is not a power hitter. He will not help the Phillies bomb squad drop much more than 15-20 in a season, but Asche is a doubles machine. His power is to the gaps and he runs the bases fairly well. He is a letfy at the plate which doesn’t help the Phillies because of the core of lefties that they have in the lineup, one of his only downsides.
Asche is 1-for-6 this spring down in Clearwater, with his only hit being a double.
Some people believe that the Phillies should not have traded for Michael Young, but instead started Asche to see what he could give and then fill in with Kevin Frandsen where needed. Leaving Cody Asche down for another year or two is probably the best option, however. Giving him a few more years to build on his successful past season will be just what Asche needs. Maybe, just maybe, the Phillies will finally have another superstar third baseman, following the one and only Michael Schmidt.
