Philadelphia Phillies

Phillies Featured Player: Odubel Herrera Salvaging His Season

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Phillies center fielder Odubel Herrera cruised through the first half of the season to an All-Star selection. After stumbling through July and August, Herrera has returned to his early-season form.

When I previously wrote about Phillies outfielder Odubel Herrera in early June, he ranked among the league leaders in fWAR and looked like the leadoff hitter the team needed. After his selection to this year’s All-Star Game, Herrera’s performance went off the rails.

In the first half of the season, Herrera showed much-improved plate discipline with a 11.6% walk rate and 18.3% strikeout rate. That discipline has since gone away in the second half, with his walk rate falling to 7% and strikeout rate climbing to 22.8%. The Phillies are one of the least disciplined teams at the plate this year, and Herrera isn’t helping.

July was Herrera’s worst month this season, where he hit for a measly 68 wRC+. His batting average of .227 was the worst among all Phillies in the starting lineup. He finished July with a 5.9% walk rate and 20.3% strikeout rate. Even then, both of those numbers are still better than Herrera’s 2015 marks.

Herrera’s woes came to a head when manager Pete Mackanin kept him out of the lineup for multiple games in early August. Mackanin said the 2014 Rule 5 pick didn’t “look like the same guy” and that he was “less plate disciplined than he was earlier.” Later on, Mackanin said Herrera’s swing was “loopy” and that he was trying to loft the ball too much.

Thankfully, Herrera looks much better since his midsummer slump.

In August, Herrera raised his average back to .282 and hit for a .744 OPS. His 0.4 fWAR was good enough for fourth on the Phillies that month. Hererra still left room for improvement, as his strikeout rate climbed to 27.7% that month.

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When the calendar turned to September, Herrera really turned it on at the plate. This month, Herrea has a .308/.379/.500 line. His 0.6 fWAR this month leads the Phillies and ranks 23rd among all National League players in September.

While Herrera hasn’t been driving in runs, he’s been scoring plenty. So far this month, he has reached base 22 times and scored 11 times. Mostly hitting from the No. 2 spot this month, this is exactly what Herrera should be doing.

With 3.9 bWAR this year, Herrera leads the Phillies for the second straight year. For reference, Fangraphs considers 3-4 WAR a “good starter” and 4-5 WAR an All-Star. Even with his struggles to start the second half, Herrera is still quite the above-average player.

As the speedster Roman Quinn emerges, some foresee Herrera moving from center field in the future. For example, he could return to second base, his position in the minors while with the Texas Rangers. However, that move would only add to the developing logjam in the middle infield.

A more likely move would be to one of the corner outfield positions. Aaron Altherr has a firm grip on right field for next season, but left field is open for Herrera.

Until then, the team remain confident in Herrera as a center fielder. Mackanin was adamant about Herrera remaining in center field in late June. Quinn will likely start 2017 back in Triple-A, so Herrera will continue to man center.

Next season, it’d be great to see Herrera’s plate discipline return to its early 2016 form. It would take Herrera to the next level, but he already is a solid player even as he works through his sturggles.

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