By Tim Kelly, Sports Talk Philly editor 
During the two-and-a-half seasons that Pete Mackanin managed the Philadelphia Phillies, Odubel Herrera flashed enough talent to become a National League All-Star, be nominated for a Gold Glove Award and receive a long-term extension. Still, Herrera's approach has sometimes left some with a feeling of there being more to be desired.
One of the biggest tasks facing new manager Gabe Kapler will be how to consistently get Herrera to have the fiercely competitive approach that he's flashed throughout his first three seasons in the majors. In a recent appearance on the SportsRadio 94 WIP Morning Show with Angelo Cataldi, Kapler discussed this:
Cataldi: You've got a player on your team who is a big-time talent – Odubel Herrera.
Kapler: He's a stud.
Cataldi: [He] doesn't run hard all the time. He's not the only one. How does Gabe Kapler deal with that if it happens under his watch?
Kapler: Well, it's very similar to the way that we talked about Manny Ramirez. And a guy that I think is not a terrible analogy is Yasiel Puig in Los Angeles. This is a guy [Puig] that when he's on and when he's engaged, he's one of the fiercest competitors that I've ever been around – and obviously, incredibly talented, much like Herrera. So what this is, is it's a game of staying on top of it, and making sure that Odubel, and all of our players, are buying in conceptually to giving everything that have on any given day. And then when it's not there, calling them out on it – having that conversation like two men. And this is not just Odubel, it's all of our players. [We will end up] Saying "was that everything that you have for the city of Philadelphia, for the fans that are watching you every single day?"…"Is that everything you have for the man standing next to you?"…"Was that everything you have for the manager and the coaching staff?"… because we're not trying to build just one fluke year. We're trying to build 10 years of dominance. And in order to build 10 years of dominance and multiple World Series championships, and playoff appearances year-in-and-year-out, it takes an effort for not just 25 men, not just 35 men, but an entire organization, an entire city, working collaboratively.
There's three aspects of Herrera's game that can be examined: his approach in the field, his approach towards hitting as a whole and his approach towards working the count.
Though he occasionally has made some mental mistakes in center field, FanGraphs says that since 2015, he has been the fifth best fielding center fielder in the MLB. In 2017, which was his third season playing the position, Herrera finished in the top four in the league in UZR, UZR/150 and dWAR for center fielders, per FanGraphs. Herrera will have a few balls each year that he badly misplays, something that the coaching staff should work to help him correct. But those mistakes are the exception, not the rule. Overall, Herrera is one of the best fielding center fielders in the sport.
His approach at the plate can be called into question a bit more. Though he had a scorching hot second-half in 2017, Herrera's lows at the plate have gotten a bit too low. In the month of July 2016, Herrera hit .227 and struck out 24 times, prompting some to discuss his long-term future with the team. After an offseason extension, Herrera had an even worse month of May 2017, as he hit .183 with 30 strikeouts in a month where the Phillies went 6-22.
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Herrera has a .288 batting average in three full seasons, which gives you an idea of how valuable he is at the plate when everything is going right. Herrera isn't going to hit .360, as he did in July of 2017, every month. However, helping him to maintain plate discipline and keep from going ice cold during a slump will be one of the biggest challenges for Kapler and his staff.
One of the ways that he can keep from getting as cold during struggles is to increase the rate that he walks at. Herrera's walk-rate dropped from 9.6 percent in 2016 to 5.5 percent in 2017. To put things even more in perspective, Herrera walked 23 times in April of 2016, a month in which he hit .313. In 2017, he walked just 31 times the entire season. Kapler and his staff will no doubt make it a point of emphasis to get Herrera to work more walks in 2018.
Whether he and his staff are able to consistently connect with Herrera will be one of Kapler's biggest tests early on. He sounds excited to work with Herrera, and believes he has a plan to get the most out of his talented center fielder.
