PHILADELPHIA -- The Phillies will wait a little longer to make an important decision about their bench.

Phillies outfielder Roman Quinn played nine innings Sunday in a rehab assignment with Class A Clearwater. It was his second consecutive nine-inning effort as he recovers from a strained right oblique. Quinn is healthy and probably ready to rejoin the team, but Phillies manager Gabe Kapler said Monday afternoon at Citizens Bank Park that the organization will not activate him in the coming days.

“We want to see how Odúbel Herrera continues to play,” Kapler said. “The one thing we’re pretty aware of is if you call Roman up, it’s probably not to play immediately. So we’re thinking about making sure that his timing and his rhythm continue to be good. And that he’s healthy when he gets here. In a perfect world, we’d be able to start him when he comes up, at least once or twice in the first week or 10 days.

“Right now, Odubel is going so well, playing so well, that you don’t want to take him out of the lineup, so you can’t even envision a start coming up for anybody but Odubel. That’s what I’m thinking about.”

Herrera is batting .324 (11 for 34) with one home run and four RBIs. He hit a game-tying two-run homer, his first of the season, in Monday’s 4-3 victory over the Nationals.

The Phillies can keep Quinn on his rehab assignment through April 23, meaning he needs to be placed on the active roster no later than April 24, if he is healthy. It would not be a surprise to see Quinn remain in the Minor Leagues through April 23. The Phillies view Quinn, Aaron Altherr and Nick Williams as relative equals on the bench. Because Quinn and Altherr are out of options, meaning the Phillies could lose either player if he is placed on waivers, the organization wants to wait as long as possible before making that decision.

Williams can be optioned, but the Phillies like his left-handed bat off the bench.

In short, the Phillies are looking at it like this: why make a decision this week, when they do not know what could happen between Monday and April 23?

“We’re talking about what’s better for him,” Kapler said about Quinn. “Going to face a little bit better competition? Or with Roman, you think about is it better for him to stay in the warm weather? Health is so important to his success, so we don’t want to expose him. Again, he’s not made of glass, so you don’t say, ‘Well, he can’t go play in cold weather.’ We’re just trying to balance all the possibilities at this point.”

Kingery gets the nod

César Hernández is struggling, so Kapler started Scott Kingery at second base on Monday against the Nationals for the first time this season. Kingery went 2-for-4.

“It’s definitely just an opportunity to give Cesar a blow and collect himself, both physically and mentally,” Kapler said. “He’s working on some hip mobility and some shoulder mobility with Dong Lien, one of our strength and conditioning coaches. We just want him to feel loose and athletic and one of the ways to do that is to just get him off his feet. My expectation is that he’ll be right back in there tomorrow.”

Hernandez is hitting .179/.250/.286 in 32 plate appearances.