2015 Player Review: Odubel Herrera

There have been good Rule 5 picks made by the Phillies: Dave Hollins was an All-Star, Clay Dalrymple was the best defensive catcher of the 1960s per FanGraphs, and Shane Victorino won Gold Gloves, had huge playoff hits, and helped the Phils bring home a World Series.

There have been bad Rule 5 picks made by the Phillies: Michael Martinez is among the Majors’ worst players with a career .187 batting average.

There’s even the ones that got away: before becoming Phillies by other means, Manny Trillo and Willie Hernandez both were Phils farms hands that were taken away in the Rule 5 draft, as was George Bell.

Odubel Herrera has the potential to be the best Rule 5 selection the Phillies have ever taken.

Lost in a sea comprised of outstanding rookies, Herrera led all NL rookies in batting (.297), finished second in doubles (30), fourth in runs scored, and tied for first in stolen bases. Among Phillies that qualified for the batting title, Herrera led the team in batting average, OBP, and OPS. More importantly, on a team that won only 63 games, Herrera was worth 3.9 of them by himself, or about 6% of their wins per FanGraphs, providing outstanding defense alongside his offensive outburst.

Herrera came to the Phillies through the Rule 5 draft, selected from the Texas Rangers. Herrera had spent most of his time in the minors as a middle infielder, fueling speculation that either Chase Utley

and/or Jimmy Rollins would be traded. Rollins would be traded eight days later, but it had nothing to do with Herrera. No, despite playing mostly middle infield in the minor leagues, Herrera was about to become the Phillies’ everyday center fielder.

Herrera played 147 games for the Phillies, all in center field, despite speculation that he would be used in multiple positions, particularly with the existence of incumbent center fielder Ben Revere on the roster. Herrera made his mark fast, hitting .301 in April, including a walk-off double on April 11. However, success seemed fleeting, as Herrera hit just .202 in May. From July 1 on, however, Herrera was on a different level, hitting .335/.393/.467 with six homers and eight steals, stat line inclusive of a walk-off 10th inning single on July 22: