Five things learned from Phillies disappointing series loss to Nationals

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WASHINGTON, DC – AUGUST 23: Odubel Herrera #37 of the Philadelphia Phillies celebrates after hitting a two-run home run in the seventh inning against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park on August 23, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images) /

Odubel Herrera can hit Max Scherzer, of all people

Odubel Herrera has been a slump for over two months now, much longer than his usual ones. Coming into Thursday’s game, he had a .228/.271/.414 line with 57 strikeouts in 252 plate appearances since June 8. Roman Quinn has started to take some of his playing time due to these struggles.

Herrera still got the start against Scherzer, who is one of the top starters in the game, as mentioned earlier. That is because Herrera has great career numbers against Scherzer. In 42 plate appearances against Scherzer prior to Thursday, Herrera had a .333 batting average with a .901 OPS.

The decision to start Herrera wound up winning the game for the Phillies. The game was deadlocked through six innings with the Phillies recording just one hit up to that point. Maikel Franco drew a one-out walk in the seventh inning to bring up Herrera, who hit seventh. He demolished a 1-0 cutter into the second deck in right field for his 20th home run of the season, providing the only runs in the game.

While Herrera has struggled against seemingly every pitcher these last few months, he has no issue hitting against one of the best pitchers in the league. It doesn’t make any sense, but what does with Herrera?

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