It seems that 15 games in left field with Triple-A Lehigh Valley have been enough to convince the Phillies that Cody Asche is ready to make his return to the big league club. On Friday morning, the team announced that Asche would be promoted to Philadelphia with a corresponding roster move to follow later in the day. In 15 games with Lehigh Valley, Asche hit .295 with three doubles, a home run and three RBI's.
LF Cody Asche has been recalled from @IronPigs. A corresponding roster move will be made before tonight's 7:05 game vs. COL.
— Phillies (@Phillies) May 29, 2015
Asche's return to the Phillies makes the outfield picture a little more interesting. With Odubel Herrera continuing to struggle, we could see Ben Revere return to his center field role more often with an occasional start in right. It doesn't look as if Grady Sizemore or Jeff Francoeur are going anywhere either. This, of course, leaves one less spot for Darin Ruf to occupy, meaning that he will likely just be used to fill in for Ryan Howard and pinch-hit duties. During his 15 games in Triple-A, Asche had one error and 23 putouts in left field to go along with a .958 fielding percentage and a 1.53 range factor per game. The range factor is Asche's putouts added with his number of assists divided into games played.
In terms of the corresponding roster move, the Phillies could go a few ways. Both Jake Diekman and Justin De Fratus have struggled enough to warrant a trip to the minors. It seems unlikely that the Phillies will move any of their bench players at this point, but we will have to wait and see who they send down before tonight's game at home against the Rockies.
Brandon Apter, Publishing Editor for Philliedelphia.com
