Alec Asher gained his manager's confidence and that helped his own

Through the first 40 games of the 2017 season, right-hander Alec Asher is proving to be a nice find for the Orioles. Acquired from Philadelphia on March 28 for a player to be named later or cash considerations, he has pitched well for his new team in a variety of roles.

In nine games (two starts), the 25-year-old Asher is 1-2 with a 2.52 ERA. Over 25 innings, he has allowed 23 hits and seven runs, with six walks, 19 strikeouts and a .250 average against. He pitched to a 2.92 ERA in his two starts, and his ERA is 2.13 in seven games out of the Orioles bullpen.

Last night he pitched a scoreless eighth inning against Toronto in a 3-3 game. Yep, he pitched the eighth in a tie game, like a late-inning reliever might.

Asher told me today it was exciting to get a high-leverage inning. But more important than that, he said, having manager Buck Showalter trust him enough to use him that way has been a huge boost for him.

"Yeah, absolutely," he said. "I think the main goal is to have the confidence of the manager. Have him believe in you. Because it gives you an extra boost of your own confidence. You believe in yourself a little more. If he has the confidence in me to run me out there, I'm going to go out there and do my job."

Because he made two quality starts and has now pitched in the later innings as well, Asher has pitched in every inning, one through nine, in various games, and he's also pitched in extra innings. He's up for any role or challenge.

"Yeah, absolutely. Whatever the team wants me to do to help us win games, I am completely open to do. If that is throwing an inning, throwing multiple innings or starting, I just want to help win games. I'm here to do that."

Showalter is a real fan of Asher's delivery, mechanics, control and command.

"Asher has a really good delivery. He's got about as good a delivery as we have on our club. That allows him to locate. That was really intriguing to us," he said.

Showalter said he noticed that Asher's velocity has ticked up when he has pitched in relief. According to Brooksbaseball.net, Asher averaged 91.4 and 91.8 mph in his two starts. In his last two relief outings, he has averaged 94.9 and 93.4 mph on his fastball.

"I haven't paid too much attention to it," Asher said "But throwing a tight ballgame in the eighth is a whole different animal than starting a game. I think a lot of it has to do with adrenaline and stuff like that. But I've felt great all season and just hope to continue that."

The Orioles are Asher's third organization. He was a fourth-round draft pick by Texas in 2012. On July 31, 2015 he was traded to Philadelphia in the deal in which Texas acquired Cole Hamels. Then Asher was traded to the Orioles. So far, so good for him with the orange and black.

"Yeah, I'm excited. Coming over here I didn't know what to really expect. But I've had a good start here so far, and I'm hoping to continue to build on that," he said.