By Brandon Apter, Sports Talk Philly editor 
Philadelphia Phillies suspended right-hander Alec Asher made his first rehab assignment on Tuesday with the GCL Phillies, per CSNPhilly.com. Asher received and 80-game suspension back in June after testing positive for performance enhancing drugs.
Alec Asher's line today 1 IP 1 H 1 R 0 ER 0 BB 1 K
— Matt Winkelman (@Matt_Winkelman) August 23, 2016
Prior to getting the ban, Asher was performing well, going 3-0 with a 1.54 ERA in four starts with Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Acquired in the trade that sent Cole Hamels to the Rangers, Asher made his Major League debut on August 30 with the Phillies last season and struggled in seven starts, going 0-6 with a 9.31 ERA.
With Zach Eflin and Aaron Nola out for the year and Vince Velasquez getting closer to his innings limit, Asher could see some time with the big league club after he's stretched out come September. It seems pretty likely that the Phillies could use a couple of extra arms down the stretch.
The drug that Asher was caught using, dehydrochlormethyltestosterone, is commonly known as Turinabol. The drug is a steroid that may be taken orally, and is the same substance for which former Phillies Rule 5 pick Daniel Stumpf tested positive for in April, and the same that Blue Jays first baseman Chris Colabello tested positive just days later. The substance is best known for aiding East Germany in the Olympic games in the late 1980s.
