Surprising Impact Of Odubel Herrera For Phillies

Odubel Herrera was a 2014 Rule 5 Draft selection by the Philadelphia Phillies who many people were unsure what to expect from him.  His 2015 season was one of the few bright spots for the team as Herrera had .297 Batting Average along with 30 Doubles, and a .418 Slugging Percentage.

But this season Herrera has already improved his hitting across the board by having more walks this season (35) compared to all of last season (28) which has helped place him as currently Fourth in Major League Baseball in On Base Percentage (.427).  Also Herrera's Strikeouts per plate appearance has dropped: in 2015 Herrera Strikeout Per Plate Appearance was at 26 percent while in 2016 his percentage is 21.8 percentage.

ESPN Senior Baseball Writer Keith Law was a guest on The Sports Bash on Wednesday and talked about the impact of Herrera's surprise production on the Phillies:

"At the very least I think you got to consider him an every day player, just given the performance for the past 12 months, well more than 12 months really. I mean you get a Rule 5 guy who turns out to be like an extra guy, like a good fourth outfielder, that's a win. And it turns out they may have gotten at least a solid regular, maybe a guy who's an above average regular, that's an outstanding outcome for them. It gives them options too cause now you look at him, you think Goeddel as a fourth, fifth Outfielder, they got Nick Williams coming, he's struggling in Triple-A but he's still a prospect, they're going to have some extra Outfielders at some point which is a good place to be because maybe them open to make a trade something else they need down the line."

Checkout who Keith Law thinks the Phillies will draft with the number one overall pick in the upcoming MLB Draft along with his analysis of the Phillies top prospects and when we can expect to see them at the major league level