Phillies: Odubel Herrera’s playing time dwindling with offensive struggles

Odubel Herrera is now performing even worse than last year, leaving the Phillies no choice but to move him out of the starting lineup.

This time last year, Odubel Herrera had just wrapped up a lengthy on-base streak and was the Phillies‘ best hitter. Through May 22, he had a .345/.410/.542 line, seven home runs, 30 runs batted in, and a 158 wRC+.

The story is entirely different this year. Herrera has a .223/.285/.348 line, one home run, 15 runs batted in, and a 70 wRC+. He has been the worst qualified hitter on the team by a wide margin with a 67 OPS+.

Herrera was performing adequately, although not too well, before missing over two weeks with a hamstring injury. He has been abysmal since returning, hitting just .163 with a 47 wRC+ in 17 games.

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Herrera has struggled for more than just the first two months of the season. Since his 45-game on-base streak ended on May 20 last year, he has a .217/.269/.362 line with a 5.5% walk rate, 22.4% strikeout rate, and 68 wRC+. In the last calendar year, only three qualified hitters have a worse wRC+ than Herrera.

While Herrera was Gold Glove-caliber at one point, his defense is no longer an asset.

In 252.1 innings in center field this year, Herrera has -4 defensive runs saved and a -14.3 UZR/150, both of which are even worse than last year.

Altogether, Herrera has been a detriment to the team this year. His -0.5 bWAR puts him at third-worst on the team this year and worst on the active roster.

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With little reason to keep Herrera in the starting lineup, it’s no surprise to see him start to lose playing time. Since Scott Kingery returned from the injured list Sunday, he has started three of four games in center field. WIth Herrera’s struggles, Kingery will likely start even more games in center.

Herrera has not been able to hit well in over a year, leaving huge concerns about his future in the league. He is still signed through 2021 before team options for 2022 and 2023 kick in, so he’s here for the long haul. Unless he turns thing around at the plate, his contract is only going to look worse and worse.

For now, Herrera will continue to ride the bench as Kingery takes over center field duties. That could soon become the norm if Herrera still struggles throughout the year.