The Phillies had few battles in Clearwater, but center field came right down to the final day of Grapefruit League play with Adam Haseley and Roman Quinn capturing spots on the roster over Odubel Herrera.

As Phillies President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski pointed out on Tuesday, this was strictly a baseball decision with Herrera, who simply wasn't consistent enough.

"Its going to be tough for him to be consistent at this point," explained Dombrowski via zoom. He just hasn't seen enough (pitching). At times you see the flashes, so for us it was better for him to go out and play on an everyday basis and see what happens over the next time period. We like him, but that was really the final deterrent for him, just go out and get more at-bats so we can see more consistency."

With center field decided on, the Phillies have other issues, mainly the rough and tough N.L. East. However with guys like Bryce Harper, Rhys Hoskins, Alec Bohm, Didi Gregorius and arms like Aaron Nola, Zack Wheeler, Zach Eflin and an improved bullpen, Dombrowski believes the Phillies are ready to compete.

"You look at our everyday lineup, its really good," Dombrowski pointed out. "We like our starting rotation and our bullpen is improved, we hope its improved. And if all those things click, I think we'll score runs and we have a chance to compete at that point."

One key to the Phillies season will be Eflin

Dombrowski pointed out that many national publications act as if he doesn't exist.  He missed some time in Spring Training with some back issues, but pitched well in the teams final Grapefruit League game on Monday and is slated to pitch behind Nola and Wheeler.

The 26-year-old had a solid 2020 campaign, with a 3.97 ERA, 1.27 WHIP and 70 strikeouts across 59 innings. Eflin compiled 24 wins in 56 games over the 2018-2019 seasons.

Final Roster announced

From Phillies Press Release:

The roster includes eight former All-Stars (19 total All-Star Game appearances), two MVPs and one Rookie of the Year Award winner.

The Opening Day roster includes 13 pitchers, two catchers, six infielders and five outfielders.

Pitchers (13): Right-handers – Chase Anderson, Archie Bradley, Connor Brogdon, Sam Coonrod, Zach Eflin, David Hale, Brandon Kintzler, Héctor Neris, Aaron Nola, Vince Velasquez and Zack Wheeler.

Left-handers – José Alvarado and Matt Moore.

Catchers (2): Andrew Knapp and J.T. Realmuto.

Infielders (6): Alec Bohm, Didi Gregorius, Rhys Hoskins, Brad Miller, Jean Segura and Ronald Torreyes.

Outfielders (5): Bryce Harper, Adam Haseley, Matt Joyce, Andrew McCutchen and Roman Quinn.

The Phillies will announce corresponding 40-man roster moves prior to tomorrow’s game.

Phillies First-Round Picks Since 2000

 

Here are the top 25 hits of the ‘80s based on their overall popularity.

More From 97.3 ESPN