Philadelphia Phillies' manager Pete Mackanin squashed one of the team's potential Spring Training storylines this weekend when he told a group of reporters, which included MLB.com's Todd Zolecki, that he doesn't intend to move Odubel Herrera from center field.
"He accomplished so much defensively and proved he was a legitimate center fielder," Mackanin said. "He wasn't just a plug-in. I really liked him in center field."
There was a time early in Herrera's rookie season of 2015 that he appeared to be someone that had a starting bat, but lacked a position. As the season went on, however, Herrera made that notion seem silly. Fangraphs says he posted an 11.7 dWAR and 9.9 UZR in 2015, both of which were fifth best out of 23 qualified center fielders.
Peter Bourjos, claimed off of waivers this off-season, is also a strong fielder who naturally plays center field, but Herrera playing in center means Bourjos will see a majority of his starts at one of the two corner outfield positions. In theory, moving Herrera to a corner outfield spot for Bourjos would make sense if Bourjos figured to be a long-term starter for the team, but that isn't the case. Advanced metrics also suggest that Herrera was actually a better center fielder than Bourjos last season, and that was his first time playing the position full-time.
As Zolecki noted in his piece, the Phillies have a fair amount of young outfield depth between both the major league team and their farm system. Mackanin didn't close the door on moving Herrera to a corner outfield spot, or even back to second-base, if it makes more sense for the team in the future. But after a strong rookie season in the outfield, 2016 doesn't seem to be the time that it makes the most sense for Herrera to switch to another position.
Tim Kelly (@TimKellySports) is the Managing Editor of Philliedelphia.com, focusing on news and features.
