Odúbel Herrera returns to the Phillies lineup today vs. the Blue Jays
Twenty-one months after his arrest on domestic assault charges, Herrera will bat fifth and play right field for the Phillies in an exhibition game in Dunedin, Fla.
Odúbel Herrera will make his return to the Phillies lineup Tuesday.
Twenty-one months after getting arrested on domestic violence charges and consequently suspended by Major League Baseball and removed from the 40-man roster by the Phillies, Herrera will bat fifth and play right field in an exhibition game against the Toronto Blue Jays in Dunedin, Fla.
The Phillies invited Herrera to a spring-training minicamp populated mostly by minor leaguers, a controversial decision that manager Joe Girardi defended by citing that the domestic violence policy negotiated between MLB and the players’ union “allows for redemption.”
Herrera, 29, is a long shot to make the Phillies roster even though he’s a former All-Star and the team is staging an open competition for the center field job that once belonged to him. Herrera is behind Adam Haseley, Roman Quinn, Scott Kingery, Mickey Moniak, and nonroster invitee Travis Jankowski on the center field depth chart.
When spring training opened, Girardi conceded that some of Herrera’s teammates would be more forgiving than others. Aaron Nola, for instance, said he believes in second chances and would accept Herrera’s return. Rhys Hoskins took a slightly different view.
“I don’t think anybody would condone what happened a couple years ago,” Hoskins said. “Everyone knows he’s going to have to earn that clubhouse’s trust back. I think he knows that as well. Obviously he needs to play and make the team, but we’re just going to try to focus on seeing what he can do to earn our trust back and let the chips kind of fall where they may.
“Everyone’s going to react differently to a situation like this. Maybe some guys have something like this in their past and it cuts a little bit deeper. Some guys may also believe that everybody deserves a second chance if they’ve proven that they’re willing to move on. I don’t know how it’s going to play out. I think everybody’s kind of watching it.”
Herrera was arrested in May 2019 in Atlantic City and charged with simple assault. According to a police report, his 20-year-old girlfriend had handprint markings on her neck and scratches on her arms. She declined to press charges, and the complaint was dropped two months later in Atlantic City Municipal Court.
MLB suspended Herrera for the rest of the 2019 season. He reported for spring training in minor-league camp last year and wasn’t assigned to the Phillies’ alternate site when the delayed season began last summer.
Regardless of where he plays this season, Herrera will make $10.1 million in the final guaranteed year of a five-year, $30.5 million contract. The Phillies hold options on his contract in 2022 and 2023, but can get out of it by paying $2.5 million and $1 million buyouts.
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Herrera hasn’t played since his arrest save for two games this winter in the Dominican Republic. He batted .217 with a .625 OPS in his last 106 major-league games after hitting .286 with a .777 OPS in his first 3 1/2 major-league seasons.
Tuesday’s game against the Blue Jays won’t be broadcast on television or radio.