After Monday nights 4-3 loss to the Pittsburg Pirates, the Phillies announced they have optioned third baseman Cody Asche to Triple-A. Asche will join the IronPigs on Tuesday to transition into a left fielder. It is expected Asche will stay with the IronPigs for at least 10 days until the Phillies believe he is ready to play Left Field in a productiveway for the big club.
The Phillies need Asche to transition into an outfielder in order to make room for Phillies top prospect Maikel Franco who, of course, is a third baseman.
“He continues to do very well,” Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr told reporters before Monday night’s series opener against the Pirates. The embattled general manager went on to say that Franco is “getting closer and closer.” The Phillies are expected to add Franco to the active big league roster before the end of this home stand which ends on Sunday.
You may have heard on talk radio or have been reading in the papers that Franco will not be added to the Phillies before May 15th. Why? Because that is the magical date which will allow the Phillies to push back Franco’s potential free agency until after 2021. May 15th is this Friday.
Franco, 22, is hitting .336 with 3 homers and 17 RBIs for the Iron Pigs. Because Asche is learning to play left field, Ben Revere will be moved to the other corner outfield postion, right field. This means the Phillies will be forced to dismiss an outfielder once Asche is recalled. Grady Sizemore would be my guess, but you never know. To be continued.
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