Asche, Smith win July Honors as Phillies Minor League Players of the Month
Third baseman Cody Asche is the Phillies Minor League Player of the Month for July. Pitching honors go to left-hander Greg Smith of the Lehigh Valley IronPigs.
Asche, 23, batted .330 with 31 hits, seven home runs, 21 RBI and a .978 OPS in 24 games during the month. Prior to his promotion to Philadelphia, Asche was in the midst of a 10-game hitting streak with Lehigh Valley where he was batting .380 (16-for-42) from July 20 to 29.
A native of O'Fallon, Mo., Asche was selected to the International League team for the 26th annual Triple-A All-Star Game on July 17 at Aces Ballpark in Reno, Nev. This was Asche's second career All-Star nod following his selection to the Florida State League All-Star team in 2012.
Selected by the Phillies in the 4th round of the June 2011 draft, Asche was leading the IronPigs in RBI (68), hits (119), and total bases (196) at the time of his promotion.
Smith, who signed a minor league contract with the Phillies on May 6, 2013, went 3-0 with a 1.06 ERA over five starts in the month of July. The Louisiana native struck out 15 batters while walking only seven in 34.0 innings of work.
The 6-foot-1 lefty improved his Triple-A record to 5-1 on July 21 when he threw a season-high 101 pitches in 8.0 innings of work, allowing four hits in the IronPigs' 2-1 win over the Columbus Clippers.
Originally selected by the Diamondbacks in the 6th round of the June 2005 draft, Smith limited opposing batters to a .197 average in his five starts during the month.