Odubel Herrera Will Be Sensation of Philadelphia Phillies Spring Training
By Mike Gibson
@papreps
Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports
In a little over a month, all of the members of the Philadelphia Phillies organization will be in one place, Clearwater, Fla., competing for a job on the 25-man MLB roster.
The talk of insiders now, though, is about a Rule 5 pickup Odubel Herrera, who just finished tearing up another place, Venezuela. The heir apparent to Chase Utley at second base, Herrera led the Venezuelan League in hitting with a .372 average. He also had a .427 OBP, .987 OPS, six home runs and 112 total bases in addition to going 8-for-8 on steal attempts playing in just 58 games for the Tiburones de La Guaira team. For that, he received the MVP award there. While the Venezuela League is not MLB, it has such a large group of current major leaguers — over 40 percent of players on those rosters — that it can be considered a significant cut above Triple-A baseball in the United States.
When Herrera gets to Clearwater, he will already have a running head start from not only a performance standpoint but a commitment standpoint. As a Rule 5 pickup, Herrera must stay on the Phils’ 25-man roster or be offered back to his original team, the Texas Rangers. While Herrera is seen as a possible potential replacement for Utley as the Phillies’ second baseman of the future, his immediate future will probably come at one of the corner outfield spots, where his only competition appears to be Grady Sizemore, Domonic Brown and Darrin Ruf now that Marlon Byrd has been traded to the Cincinnati Reds.
Ruf should be playing first base, and if the Phils are able to unload the albatross that is Ryan Howard, he will. Phils manager Ryne Sandberg likes Brown’s attitude about as much as he did that of former shortstop Jimmy Rollins, and that isn’t saying much.
The door is wide open for Herrera to make an entrance, and from all reports out of Venezuela, he will make a spectacular one.
Mike Gibson is a Phillies writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @papreps , “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.
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