Philadelphia Phillies: Fans are leaning towards Adam Haseley in CF

Heading into this year’s Spring Training, center field was expected to be one of the more hotly contested positions in the Philadelphia Phillies lineup.

Adam Haseley (a former top-10 pick} is looking to finally earn an everyday role, Scott Kingery is looking to do the same following Jean Segura’s permanent move to 2B, and names like Roman Quinn and a returning Odubel Herrera were promised an honest look in the outfield by Joe Girardi. Even the first overall pick from 2016 Mickey Moniak remains in the mix.

Thus far, the competition out in CF hasn’t disappointed. Just five games into this year’s spring session, and we’ve already seen standout performances from a majority of the above listed players.

Haseley hit a leadoff homer on the second pitch of Spring Training back on Sunday, and is currently  batting .286 with a 1.159 OPS. Kingery hit his first home run on Thursday during the Philadelphia Phillies outpour of offense against the Yankees, a game where Moniak tacked on two HRs as well. Odubel Herrera has been particularly impressive despite the baggage that he comes attached with, as he’s currently batting .500 with a 1.500 OPS, one stolen base, and one outfield assist.

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Quinn has yet to make any major splash plays at the plate or out in the field, but he remains a serious option due to his elite speed and the favor that Joe Girardi has towards him.

With such a plethora of options to choose from, I ran a poll on the Section215 Twitter account (@Sec215), asking who everyone’s preference at the position was. The results were interesting to say the least:

Haseley: 38.4%

Herrera: 31.5%

Kingery: 26%

Quinn: 4.1%

Seeing Haseley at the top of the poll wasn’t too shocking – again, former top-10 pick. However, Herrera coming it at a close second was pretty surprising. I’d argue that the reaction to his return has been overwhelmingly negative this spring, with a majority of fans calling for his release every time he sees the field.

However, it appears his strong play the last couple of days has led to some changing up their stance on the formerly suspended outfielder. Off the field issues withstanding, he’s genuinely looked super impressive during his at-bats this spring. His home run on Thursday gave me flashbacks of 2016 All-Star Herrera.

Who should the Philadelphia Phillies starting CF be?

Quinn isn’t getting too much love and Kingery appears to be fighting an uphill battle compared to the likes of Herrera and Haseley. Ultimately speaking, I could see Kingery continuing to operate as a “super utility” type player in 2021, a guy who can fill in at CF, LF, 3B, 2B, and even shortstop. Guys like Andrew McCutchen and Segura will likely need a good number of days off this season anyways.

Moniak wasn’t included on the poll (I ran it before he hit his two HRs!), but I wouldn’t count him out as a depth option quite yet. He too has looked super impressive this spring, and he’s still just 22 years old. Plenty of untapped potential still there with the former #1 overall pick.

There’s still a whole lot of spring baseball left to be played, but as things currently stand, Haseley appears to have the fans’ favor at the moment.

Roman Quinn will be getting the start out in center today for the Philadelphia Phillies, as he looks to match the strong performances of Kingery and Moniak from yesterday: