Odubel Herrera one of 31 players invited to Phillies spring training

On the day before the report date for pitchers and catchers, the Phillies officially announced invitations to spring training for 31 non-roster players.

Yes, Odubel Herrera is on the list, invited not to big-league camp, but to a mini-camp in Clearwater along with 17 others.

Herrera, 29, is under contract through the end of the 2021 and due $10 million this season. Herrera has not appeared in a game since May 26, 2019. He was suspended without pay for the remainder of the 2019 season for violating MLB’s policy against domestic violence, removed from the Phillies’ 40-man roster in January 2020 and was not a part of their 60-player pool last season.

Herrera was charged with assaulting his girlfriend in May 2019. Though the charges were dropped, Herrera served the 85-game suspension in 2019. The joint policy on domestic violence between Major League Baseball and the MLBPA prohibits a team from voiding the contract or releasing a violating player.

Herrera was the Phillies’ everyday centerfielder from 2015 until his 2019 suspension, though his on-field career was trending the wrong way. He hit .288/.344/.430 in his first three seasons, then .207 with a sub-.280 on-base percentage from June 25, 2018 until the date of his suspension.

In Clearwater, Herrera will try to win his way back onto the roster, competing as a dark horse candidate for the Phillies’ center field job with Scott Kingery, Adam Haseley, and Roman Quinn.

The Phils also added another candidate to that center field battle this week in former San Diego Padre and Cincinnati Red Travis Jankowski. 

Here is their full list of non-roster invitees. Player names accompanied by an asterisk are those already in the system who will not participate in big-league camp but rather the “mini-camp” in Clearwater. They are still eligible to play in spring training games.

Catchers (5)

• Christian Bethancourt
• Rodolfo Duran
• Jeff Mathis
• Edgar Cabral*
• Logan O’Hoppe*

Infielders (4)

• Ronald Torreyes
• Darick Hall*
• Bryson Stott*

• Luke Williams*

Outfielders (6)

• Matt Joyce
• Travis Jankowski
• Odubel Herrera*
• Jhailyn Ortiz*
• Johan Rohas*
• Matt Vierling*

Pitchers (16)

• Neftali Feliz
• Brandon Kintzler
• Bryan Mitchell
• Ivan Nova
• Hector Rondon
• Michael Ynoa
• Tyler Carr*
• Enyel De Los Santos*
• Julian Garcia*
• JD Hammer*Jonathan Hennigan (LH)*
• Jakob Hernandez (LH)*
• Erik Miller (LH)*
• David Parkinson (LH)*
• David Paulino*
• Zach Warren (LH)*

Now, all I want is some Philadelphia Phillies baseball!