CLEARWATER, Fla. — When it comes to the starting eight position players, the Phillies have a few questions to sort out before their season opener April 4.
Will Pete Mackanin continue to use a platoon of Ryan Howard and Darin Ruf at first base?
Will Cameron Rupp be the clear-cut No. 1 catcher with Carlos Ruiz serving as the No. 2?
The starting outfield, at least in terms of personnel, appears set with Odubel Herrera, Peter Bourjos and Aaron Altherr.
The positioning of that trio still must be determined.
Altherr seems to be pegged to get the nod in right field, provided he makes a good showing in the Grapefruit League.
Herrera, 24, went from Rule 5 pick to the Phillies' starting center field job last season, and Mackanin has been complimentary of his work at that position.
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But the Phillies added Bourjos as a waiver claim over the winter and he’s a top defensive centerfielder. Mackanin has acknowledged that Herrera is the incumbent, but he’s also said the team might be best served by using Bourjos in center and Herrera in left.
So how does Herrera feel about it?
“I’m an athletic guy and I can play anywhere,” he said with a smile Wednesday morning at Phillies camp. “If the manager wants me to play left field, that’s where I’ll play.”
Herrera was a middle infielder — mostly second base — for the first six years of his professional career. He got a taste of the outfield, left and center, in 2014, his last season in the Texas Rangers' system before the Phillies plucked him in the Rule 5 draft.
Herrera moved to the outfield full-time during the Venezuelan winter ball season in 2014 and remains there today.
Though he said he has not closed the door on second base, he does not carry an infielder’s glove anymore. He added that he has no plans to take ground balls in the outfield this spring. The coming season will be his second straight in the outfield. A future move back to the infield after two seasons in the outfield seems unlikely.
Despite never playing above Double A, Herrera hit .297 with 30 doubles and eight homers for the Phillies last season. He really took off after June 1, hitting .324 with a .832 OPS.