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Asche says he is close to returning to Phillies

READING, Pa. - The statistics may not suggest it, but leftfielder Cody Asche said he is close to re-joining the Phillies after being sidelined since suffering an abdomen injury early in spring training.

READING, Pa. - The statistics may not suggest it, but leftfielder Cody Asche said he is close to re-joining the Phillies after being sidelined since suffering an abdomen injury early in spring training.

Asche completed his fourth rehab game with double-A Reading, going 0 for 4 with a walk in Thursday's 7-4 win over Erie at FirstEnergy Stadium.

In four games with Reading, Asche is batting .125. Before that, he began his rehab stint at high single-A Clearwater, where he batted .167 in five games.

"I am close for sure," Asche said after Thursday's game. "There are a couple of little things I need to shore up in the box, kind of leading to some not-so-favorable results."

With Reading beginning a four-game weekend series in New Hampshire and triple-A Lehigh Valley returning home on Friday, Asche will likely join the IronPigs.

"I think the plan right now is to maybe go to Lehigh [Friday], but it is still up in the air," he said.

Asche suffered the injury early in spring training and then re-injured his abdomen late in spring training after taking a swing in a minor league game.

While he's still getting his timing back, Asche says the abdomen is no longer an issue.

"There are no lingering effects," he said. "I feel 100 percent healthy."

Last season, Asche hit .245 with 12 home runs, 39 RBIs and a .689 on-base plus slugging percentage in 456 plate appearances for the Phillies

"I came to spring training as confident as anybody in myself and [wanted to build] on last year and going forward this year," said Asche, who turns 26 on June 30.

"We've still got a long season left," he said. "It's not even June yet. I've got plenty of time to leave my mark on this year."

mnarducci@phillynews.com

@sjnard