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Alec Asher
Born: 10/04/1991 (Age: 23) |
| Bats: Right |
Throws: Right |
| Height: 6' 4" |
Weight: 240 |
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Build: Strong, workhorse type build. Strong legs, thick mid-section, barrel chested. Looks the part of starting pitcher that can eat up innings. The type of build that could put on worrisome some weight as player ages though.
Mechanics: Smooth, fluid, repeatable delivery from windup but not robotic. Very deliberate with his tempo and rhythm. Arm remains loose, free, and easy as it comes through. Gets to the balance point consistently without drifting forward and great timing with hand separation as he drives to the plate. Loads the backside well and maintains connection with rubber to maximize stride and leg drive. Stride is straight to the plate and landing is consistent. Arm is at high 3/4 slot upon release and ball has great downward plane. Consistent would be the operative word to describe mechanics from the windup. From the stretch, timing and rhythm of leg kick and hand separation were inconsistent. Primarily slide step with runners on (1.2-1.25), arm was not catching up with the body and left fastball and change letter high. Since his windup is so deliberate he has to drastically speed up tempo to combat running game and in turn release point becomes varied. Looked uncomfortable from stretch. |
| Colin Young |
| 05/06/2015 |
| Frisco RoughRiders (AA, Rangers) |
| 4/26/15 |
| 55 |
| 2017 |
| No |
| Fastball |
60 |
92-95 |
97 |
Four seam fastball with good late life. Able to spot well with it in strike zone, up/down, in/out. Great downward plane. Stays out of the middle of the plate well with pitch. Fastball flattens out a bit from the stretch, leaves it up in the zone. |
| Slider |
45 |
82-85 |
86 |
Slider varies from slurve to slider depending on the count. Great depth and bite when looking for an out pitch. Able to vary speeds and take something off for early in count strike pitch. Seems to have good feel and command for action of pitch but it's not something hitters seemed too fooled by. |
| Changeup |
50 |
86 |
87 |
Arm action with changeup was fantastic. Fastball arm speed was very deceiving to hitters. Changeup mirrored fastball delivery with no slow down in arm action and windup. Good command in zone and looked to have confidence in the pitch. Not afraid to throw it behind in the count. Lacked drop and depth. Changeup was a one plane pitch without a lot of movement, pretty straight. The arm speed and difference in velocity creates the deception rather than any movement. |
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Asher looks the part of an innings gobbler or a quality back end of the rotation starter. With his strong build and command of three solid pitches, he could project to be a long relief or quality 4 or 5 starter. He looked focused and intent on executing his game plan and maintained good poise in precarious situations. From the windup he located well with his fast ball and kept hitters off balance with changeup, also mixed in the slider when ahead in the count or to put hitter away on two strike pitch. He did rush (mechanically) a bit for my liking from the stretch, primarily using the slide step. He was consistently high with his release point with runners on and got hit around when up in the zone. Despite his strong build, conditioning may be a factor moving forward, but still early in the season. I thought his pitching IQ was above average in terms of setting up hitters and working the strike zone. I was very impressed with his poise and he showed no emotion even when things got a bit hairy. He was able to come back within himself and make pitches to get out of jams and stop the bleeding. If Asher can work on controlling the running game and maintain good tempo and release point from the stretch, a better projection is possible. I'd like to see him work on finding some more movement with changeup and throwing it early in the count as well once fastball is established.
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