Phillies need to decide between Adam Haseley, Roman Quinn

The Phillies still have a big decision to make in summer camp

Two weeks from Friday is Opening Day for the Philadelphia Phillies, their first of 60 games in a shortened 2020 season.

Before that, however, there will be three exhibition games. And, new manager Joe Girardi still has some decisions to make for key roster spots. Among them, the starting center field position.

There appears to be two candidates vying for the role: Adam Haseley and Roman Quinn. On Thursday evening’s NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Phillies Return to Play special, Michael Barkann said he recently asked Girardi about what he would pursue regarding the center field position.

Girardi replied: “I’m going to let it show itself. I am going to let it come to the surface and we are going to go with what we’ve got.”

Haseley, 24, missed the first four days of summer camp due to a misplaced COVID-19 test result, but is now back with the team. The talented Quinn, 27, meanwhile, reported on time to camp, but has been known to have his fair share of injuries in recent seasons.

NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Jim Salisbury said he thinks both of them are going to continue to get looks, possibly even into the early part of the season, with whoever gets hot taking over full-time.

“You can certainly ride a hot bat for six to eight weeks,” Salisbury said.

The case for Adam Haseley

In 67 games last season as a rookie, Haseley slashed .266/.324/.396 with 14 doubles, five home runs, 26 RBI, and 14 walks, however, he struck out 60 times. Haseley fielded all three outfield positions, where across 541 innings and 131 chances, he committed only one error while posting 126 putouts and four assists.

“I think he surprised some people with his defense,” NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Gregg Murphy said. “I think he gave you solid, professional at-bats. He probably struck out too much. He needs to cut down on that.”

Murphy continued in that he thinks Haseley, once a Phillies top-three-ranked prospect, will be an “improved player” in 2020.

“He has a third of the season under his belt in the big leagues. He certainly didn’t embarrass himself; he was a contributing player,” Murphy said. “I think Adam Haseley is going to be a very solid, big-league player for many years to come.”

The case for Roman Quinn

As for Quinn, he has been limited to just 109 games since his September 2016 big-league debut, largely due to injuries. While Quinn slashed just a combined .213/.298/.370 in 44 games last season, he was starting to pick up things late. Across his final 19 games and 62 plate appearances, he slashed a much-improved .333/.410/.630 with seven extra-base hits, nine RBI, six walks and four stolen bases across as many attempts.

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And, like Haseley, Quinn committed only one fielding error in 2019, although he only fielded center field (not to mention his two appearances and 3 1/3 innings as a relief pitcher).

Salisbury said that if Quinn can stay healthy, he is “so talented and such an electric player.”

“He has experience under his belt, too. He was just starting to play well last year when his hamstring went out again,” Salisbury said. “If he is healthy, doing the things he can do and playing to his potential, I think that he can run away with the job.”

“I love the things he does on the field, offensively and defensively.”

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But, where Quinn stands out largely above any other player on the Phillies’ player pool is that he can be a threat on the base paths. In particular, distracting pitchers with his threat to steal bases, thus perhaps leading them to make a mistake.

“When he is taking a lead off first and second base, he is constantly in the back of that pitcher’s mind,” Salisbury continued. “If that pitcher is not completely focused on executing his pitch because he’s worried about Roman Quinn, he might make a mistake that Bryce Harper might hit out of the yard.”

“So I just love what Roman Quinn can bring to the table, but we know the reality; he has had a lot of trouble staying healthy.”

What about Odubel?

While there are other players in the Phillies’ player pool that could potentially see some time at the center field position in the shortened 60-game sprint, there is another not in the pool that is still in the back of the team’s mind: Odubel Herrera.

The one-time All-Star has seemingly been forgotten following his demotion due to domestic abuse charges, which were later dropped. Could he ever play again in red pinstripes?

“He is not with the team, but he is still technically in the organization,” Salisbury said. “GM Matt Klentak said that Odubel was considered for a spot on the 60-man player pool and will continue to be considered.”

Salisbury said that maybe we could see Herrera in 2020, albeit he does not know if ownership would sign off on it.

“He is a name that is out there. If these guys don’t run away with it, you will hear a lot of buzz on him possibly,” Salisbury continued.

So, whoever wins the starting job, it should be a good problem for Girardi to have. Both Haseley and Quinn are talented and bring different things to the table.

Regardless whoever wins the role, Murphy noted they most likely will not be asked to do much in terms of in the batting order, considering their lineup is stacked, ranging from Harper, to Rhys Hoskins, Didi Gregorius, J.T. Realmuto, and Andrew McCutchen, among others.

“Let’s see if someone runs away with the job,” Murphy said. “Let’s see if someone can take it from the other guy. If not, will probably see a little bit of both the chance to show their wares early in the season.”