Asche works on getting comfortable in left
It was the morning of the Phillies' first spring training workout for pitchers and catchers and Cody Asche was fresh off three weeks of a basic introduction to left field. The 24-year-old third baseman had arrived in Clearwater during the final week of January, and part of his routine became shagging fly balls from a fungo-wielding coach or off a pitching machine.
It was the morning of the Phillies' first spring training workout for pitchers and catchers and Cody Asche was fresh off three weeks of a basic introduction to left field. The 24-year-old third baseman had arrived in Clearwater during the final week of January, and part of his routine became shagging fly balls from a fungo-wielding coach or off a pitching machine.
"I'm learning, for sure," he said that day. "I wouldn't say I'm the best leftfielder in the game, but I'm learning."
Less than three months later, with Maikel Franco's tenure as the Phillies' everyday third baseman now underway, Asche is adjusting to his new life as a leftfielder. The Phillies, after questionably putting the project on hold in spring training, decided this week that Asche could best learn his new position with the triple-A club, now on a seven-game road trip to Rochester and Syracuse.
Asche is far from the first third baseman to make this position switch - two higher-profile examples, Milwaukee's Ryan Braun and Kansas City's Alex Gordon did so in recent years - but it is yet to be seen how he projects as a leftfielder. In the eyes of Phillies management, Asche is athletic enough to play the outfield. Manager Ryne Sandberg believes Asche's arm and speed can work there.
A school of thought exists that Asche's offense might benefit from a less pressure-filled position. But first he must become comfortable there. Three seasons ago the Phillies began working out Darin Ruf in left field while he was with double-A Reading. It took the natural first baseman "probably a full year," he said, before he was fully comfortable in the position. (And then, you might recall, the Phillies used him more at first base and in right field during the 2013 season.)
"He just needs to get comfortable with [playing there]," Ruf said this week. "That was the hardest thing, like seeing a '7' by your name and [getting used to] running out there every inning. You need to be comfortable going to that position as opposed to somewhere else."
Asche is also at the mercy of the developments in a given game while playing every day with triple-A Lehigh Valley. In his left-field debut Tuesday in Allentown, his lone action came in the third inning, on a shallow fly ball off the bat of former Phillie Michael Martinez. Five balls were hit his way the following night. He committed his first error in left field on Thursday.
Ruf, a teammate of Asche's for parts of two seasons in the minors before joining the Phillies, arrived to spring training early like the third baseman. They worked together with Andy Abad, the Phillies' minor-league outfield coordinator, and Rob Ducey, hitting coach for the high-A Clearwater affiliate. When shagging fly balls, they would discuss where a leftfielder might play against certain hitters or the proper techniques to use in different situations. The workouts reminded Ruf of his initial transition and the challenges that came with it.
"We're probably different. I play a little bit deeper just because I'm not as fast," he said with a laugh. "So [I] try to take away more extra-base hits. He can probably play a little shallower because he's a little more athletic, quicker. We just try to talk about things that might help him become a better leftfielder."
Adjusting to the longer arm motion is a big change when transitioning from the infield to the outfield.
"It takes a little while," Ruf said. "And still sometimes if I have to be quick with a ball in the outfield, I throw like an infielder still. I'm sure he'll do that, too. But, I mean, look at Alex Gordon, he still kind of throws the ball like an infielder and has a very, very strong arm, too. I guess it's just a matter of him figuring out what works for him out there and how he can make it look good and get the job done."
Once Asche is ready, he is expected to become the Phillies' everyday leftfielder. The front office views him as a piece of the future, so he will likely get every chance to prove himself not only as a capable outfielder, but also a consistent everyday big-league hitter, which he has displayed for only stretches the last two seasons.
Asche's eventual return will push Ben Revere to right field, where he needs to play regularly if the rebuilding Phillies want any chance at turning him into a trade commodity.
Domonic Brown remains stuck in triple A while Jeff Francoeur and Grady Sizemore platoon in Sandberg's lineup. Rule 5 draft pick Odubel Herrera maintains his spot in center field but he, too, has experienced struggles lately.
A year from now, the Phillies outfield will likely look much different than it does this weekend. When Asche rejoins the Phillies, it's possible he is the only outfielder who might still be starting when the team contends again.
But that, too, is far from a certainty.
@jakemkaplan