The Phillies have a blind spot for Odúbel Herrera the way Daryl Morey has a blind spot for old Houston Rockets.
Herrera cost the Phillies another game Wednesday when he misplayed a hard-hit ball to center field in the seventh inning. He ran to the wrong spot, ignored the inevitable affect the wind would have on the ball — in fact, he seemed surprised that wind even exists — and, as the ball landed harmlessly at the base of the wall, appeared to suffer a mild seizure.
It allowed the tying and winning runs to score. It wasted another golden outing from Aaron Nola.
It should be the last time we see Odúbel Herrera in center field.
Frankly, after his horrible contract expired in 2021, that should have been the last we saw of Odúbel Herrera, period. Between his boneheaded plays and his whiplash inconsistency and his 85-game suspension for violating baseball’s domestic violence policy in 2019, Herrera didn’t merit another minute here.
But a marked lack of imagination and a 99-day lockout compelled Dave Dombrowski & Co., in mid-March, to sign Odúbel, unemployed and un-pursued, as the best insurance against possible failure and injury to Matt Vierling and Mickey Moniak. Both have failed, and Moniak got hurt, too. Odúbel, like a feline immortal, got one more life.
His highlights to date: Home runs on June 8 and 9, then three hits on Saturday — a performance he managed to sabotage. That’s about it.
The lowlights? Start with Herrera’s error May 26 when, on an overthrow to second base, he failed to effectively back up the play; the ball scooted past him and allowed the winning run to score. Continue with Saturday’s final at-bat, which was the Phillies’ final at-bat against the Cardinals, when, trailing by a run with a man on first and two out, he struck out ... by swinging at and missing three pitches in the dirt.
And then, Wednesday, more butchery in the outfield.
“The route was a little bit inside the ball,” manager Rob Thomson said Thursday, kindly, “but the ball did really sail on him.”
Actually, considering the wind conditions and the way it came off the bat, the ball sailed just like it was supposed to sail.
Matt Vierling or Mickey Moniak catch that ball. Hell, Matt Klentak or Mickey Morandini catch that ball, and Morandini’s got an artificial hip, and Klentak went to Dartmouth.
Solution?
It’s not as if Thomson doesn’t know Odúbel’s deficiencies. Thomson landed in Philly in 2018, just as Odúbel, at 26, began his decline, after three promising seasons. Dombrowski landed in the winter of 2020. Neither should have any bias. But, somehow, they’re trusting Herrera to make the proper play for a playoff team, just as other managers and executives did before them. It’s the definition of insanity. Stop.
Instead, start Vierling every day for a month. See what he can do. He stunk early and got sent to triple A, but he entered Thursday hitting .315 in the 21 games since he was called back up June 7.
If you don’t want Vierling facing too many righthanders, then platoon him with Moniak; that was the Phillies’ plan exiting spring training. Moniak entered Thursday hitting just .125, and Vierling was at .248 overall, but I don’t care if they combine to hit .200 the rest of the season. They need to play. They need to swing. Bat them ninth and tell them to just play good defense, pay attention, and not lose games. Tell them, “Don’t Odúbel.”
What do you have to lose? Herrera is hitting .161 with no extra-base hits in his last 18 games. Moniak doesn’t look so bad now, does he?
The Herrera Dilemma
What to do with Odúbel? Who cares?
He’s a power-deficient 30-year-old with a .698 OPS since 2019.
Bench him. Trade him. Send him to the minors. Send him to Greenland. Just keep him out of center field.
Make him a regular bench player. A corner outfield defensive replacement. A lefty pinch hitter; he’s a lifetime .320 pinch hitter. But for God’s sake, don’t put him back in center field for anything beyond batting practice.
He’s just not a good player. He’s not a smart player. He’s not a particularly talented player: He doesn’t run fast, he doesn’t hit the ball well or hard, he doesn’t walk, he doesn’t have a very good arm, and, too often, he can’t even catch. Witness Wednesday.
Any Division III center fielder worth his salt would’ve run down that ball without incident or remark. For that matter, 1,600 slow-pitch softball center fielders fell out of their chairs when Odúbel broke back, went right, turned back left, almost fell down, and logged another inexcusable incident in his seven-year saga in Philadelphia.
Stubborn
The Phillies don’t know how to quit him.
They’ve given him 809 games and more than $30 million, and no matter how much he hurts the club, they seem intent on justifying past actions.
They snagged him in the Rule 5 draft in 2014, which was a smart move, as far as it went. They extended his contract in December 2016, which seemed smart at the time, but it turned out to be a mistake. It was done to limit arbitration hits and to buy away a year of his free agency, which would have begun in 2021.
Then, in 2019, Herrera was suspended for the last 85 games of the season after domestic incident in Atlantic City in which he allegedly throttled his girlfriend and left his handprint on her neck. Herrera do not play baseball in 2020, the COVID-shorted, 60-game season. Last year, manager Joe Girardi and Dombrowski, reluctant to eat his $10 million salary, foisted him upon a reluctant clubhouse.
Herrera compiled a .726 OPS in 124 games in 2021. Yawn. The Phillies declined his $11.5 million option, gave him a $2.5 million buyout to go away ... then re-signed him for $1.75 million in March.
Even at $1.75 million, he should’ve caught that ball. Nola should’ve skated through nine innings. The Phillies should’ve won the game thanks to Kyle Schwarber’s two home runs.
Entering Thursday, they stood tied for the last National League wild-card slot.
If they miss the playoffs it by one game, remember Wednesday’. Because the $79 million slugger slugged, the $45 million starter cruised ... and the 10-cent center fielder lost it.
