Herrera strains left hamstring running bases

February 20th, 2019

CLEARWATER, Fla. -- Phillies outfielder Odubel Herrera left Spectrum Field on Wednesday afternoon with his left leg wrapped.

He has a “slight” strained left hamstring, which he tweaked running from first to third during baserunning drills at Carpenter Complex, Phillies manager Gabe Kapler said. Herrera initially tweaked his hamstring before camp. He received an MRI at the time, but the MRI showed nothing of concern.

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A second MRI has not yet been scheduled.

“It’s something that he had a little bit earlier in camp. He was able to get over it very quickly,” Kapler said. “It tightened up on him [Wednesday], so we’re getting it checked out.”

Herrera entered camp in better shape than last spring as he tries to bounce back from the worst season of his career in 2018. He hit .255 with 22 home runs, 71 RBIs and a .730 OPS in 597 plate appearances. He set career highs in home runs and RBIs, but he set career lows in batting average (.255), on-base percentage (.310), OPS, OPS+ (94), wRC+ (97) and WAR (0.9). His 0.9 WAR was two wins lower than 2017 and nearly three wins lower than ‘15 and ‘16, according to FanGraphs.

Kapler said last week that Herrera, Nick Williams, Roman Quinn and Aaron Altherr will compete for playing time in center field and right field, with Andrew McCutchen expected to play every day in left field. Of course, that mix will change if the Phillies sign Bryce Harper.