Phillies: Odubel Herrera’s spring debut filled with ups and downs

One of the biggest Philadelphia Phillies related storylines down in Clearwater at the moment, center fielder Odubel Herrera finally returned to professional baseball earlier this afternoon. Making his first appearance since his 2019 suspension, Odubel went 1-3 with a stolen base and a run scored.

Herrera has been away from the Phillies and Major League Baseball as a whole for quite some time now, and for good reason. He was involved in a heavily documented domestic violence incident during the 2019 regular season. Herrera was arrested and charged with simple assault during a night out in Atlantic City, and the police report didn’t mince words when it came to the seriousness of the altercation:

“… (Herrera’s girlfriend) had visible signs of injury to her arms and neck that was sustained after being assaulted by her boyfriend, David Odubel Herrera, during a dispute.”

The charges were ultimately dropped prior to a court case, but the severity of the incident remains the same. Herrera served an 85 game suspension, and spent the entirety of the 2020 season down at the Phillies alternate training site, despite being one of the team’s higher paid players.

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While fans of the Phillies have been quick to point out that simply releasing Odubel would be the best plan of action moving forward, the league’s player association (MLBPA) has certain protections in place to prevent organizations from cutting formerly suspended players without cause.

Even though Herrera was wrapped up in a legitimate domestic assault case, Dave Dombrowski would have to be able to cite “on-field performance” as the main reason for any potential release.

With that in mind, the Phillies have Odubel down at Spring Training, and are giving him the benefit of the doubt when it comes to potentially earning a major league spot. With his $10 million salary and the MLBPA looming overhead, keeping him on the roster for at least one more year would likely be the path of least resistance moving forward.

According to Joe Girardi, Odubel is battling it out with the likes of Adam Haseley, Scott Kingery, and Roman Quinn for reps out in center field this spring.

Herrera’s first game back was nothing special by any stretch of the imagination, but he did show flashes of his former self at times. He laced a single into right field during the fifth inning, stole second, and then scored on an RBI double from the likes of Darick Hall.

Herrera also struck out on four pitches during his first at-bat, which brings back memories of his miserable 2019 season, where it felt like he hit a career-worst .222.

The Phillies will continue to evaluate Odubel Herrera this spring.

A couple decent at-bats here or there likely won’t be enough to warrant giving Odubel a main roster spot due to his history, but he will undoubtedly continue to receive a lot of attention throughout the entirety of spring training.

The former All-Star also offered up an apology during his postgame Zoom interview: