Asher completes impressive turnaround year

PHILADELPHIA — If everybody returns healthy in February 2017, Alec Asher will be a part of a stable of impressive young Phillies arms. Along with Asher, Aaron Nola, Jerad Eickhoff, Vince Velasquez, Jake Thompson, Zach Eflin, Adam Morgan and Ben Lively will be among the team’s promising pitchers competing for jobs in the rotation.

Figure a veteran or two to be in the mix, too.

Asher made his final start of the season Friday night in a 5-1 loss to the Mets at Citizens Bank Park. He allowed five hits and three runs and struck out four in six-plus innings. He went 2-1 with a 2.28 ERA in five starts.

His performance this month is a dramatic reversal from last season, when he went 0-6 with a 9.31 ERA in seven starts.

“I kind of did some self-evaluation and looked at some stuff and what I needed to do better,” said Asher, who served an 80-game suspension this season for testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug. “There was definitely some stuff I needed to work on. And I tried to make that a priority coming into this year. I definitely feel like we’re headed in the right direction.”

Asher credited two things for his success: more confidence and …

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