Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Herrera hopes to be seeing stars
WASHINGTON » An All-Star in 2016, Odubel Herrera had one prediction when he was not selected to the 2017 National League team. Someday, he would be back. “Yeah,” he said at the time. “Yeah, for sure.”
So … could this be the year he fulfills that prediction?
“I’m not surprised that I said that because I have a lot of confidence in myself and I trust my abilities,” Herrera was saying Sunday, before the Phils-Nationals game. “I trust my talent. I give my best every time I am on the field. I am really trying my hardest. Hopefully, the fans can see that and just vote me into the All-Star Game, but not only me, my teammates as well. I feel we deserve to be there.”
Among the leaders in the National League East, and no longer likely to be limited to one obligatory All-Star, the Phils will have some candidates. At 9-2 with a 2.58 ERA, Aaron Nola has built a sturdy candidacy.
But Herrera, who recently hit a home run in five consecutive games, and who had been hitting .425 since June 14, will receive a look. Entering play Sunday, he was sixth in the National League with 85 hits, had played an entertainingly effective center field, and was peaking as a hitter just when the voting was about to turn serious.
“I work in the cage all the time,” said Herrera, who delivered a two-run, fifth-inning triple Sunday. “I try to put the ball into play all the time. I don’t want to strike out. I want to make productive outs. I am doing the little things. My teammates are doing the same thing. Even when things weren’t going well, I had faith in my abilities. I was confident that I was going to get through. And I am a very confident person. I try to stay positive all the time, put the ball in play and do little things that can go a long way.”
*** For the first time since 2006, the New York Yankees will visit Citizens Bank Park for a regularseason series Monday. They have a certain history. “I imagine because of how close Philly and New York are that there will be some Yankees fans in the ballpark,” said Gabe Kapler, a playing veteran of the YankeesRed Sox rivalry. “And given how well we’ve played at home and how much support we’ve gotten from our fans, I think our fans are likely to drown out any of that.”
The Yankees are leading the American League East and, as such, represent another measuring device for the Phils. That’s why Kapler promised to have them on his mind the instant the Washington series was complete.
“This is a very important series,” he said, before the game. “Afterward, we’re going to immediately start focusing on the Yankees. We know about their rotation. We’re thinking about (Luis) Severino on Day 2. All of those things are absolutely true. But we’re still in Nationals mode.”
Vince Velasquez (5-7, 4.82) will face right-hander Jonathan Loaisiga (1-0, 3.12) in opener Monday. The right-handed Severino (11-2, 2.24) will oppose Jake Arrieta (5-5, 3.42) Tuesday. Wednesday, it will be Zach Eflin (5-2, 3.42) and righty Luis Cessa (0-0, 3.00). All games will be at 7:05.
The Yanks and Phils also played
at Citizens Bank Park in the 2009 World Series.
*** Pat Neshek, the Phils’ 2017 All-Star who has missed the entire season with a right shoulder strain, was said to have had a productive rehab outing Saturday in Clearwater.
“It went really well,” Kapler said. “It went really well. First
of all, I saw the outing, it was on video. The ball was moving all over the place. He was using a two-seamer up and in to lefties that he feels really good about. He had a perfect inning, two strikeouts, used his eephus pitch for a swing and miss to get a punch. He came off the field feeling healthy, 100 percent with his arm.
“We’ll get one more rehab outing and decide what to do after that.”
*** Jesmuel Valentin, who had the go-ahead RBI in the Phils’ 5-3 victory Saturday in Washington, took paternity leave Sunday.
Dylan Cozens was reactivated from the disabled list to take his place.
“It’s nice to have a big homerun threat off the bench,” Kapler said. “We have it from left and right. We have it in (Aaron) Altherr from the right side. We have it from Cozens on the left side. And we have another very good, athletic, capable defender in Cozens.”
Cozens went on the disabled list with a strained quad June 9. He’d had one home run and a .222 average in nine at-bats over five games.
“He’s running the bases really well,” Kapler said. “He’s feeling very healthy and we feel good deploying him any way we need.”
Kapler was not certain how long Valentin would be unavailable, but believed it wouldn’t necessarily be long. Without him, though, the Phillies do not have an identifiable backup shortstop.
Should something happen to Scott Kingery, Kapler indicated he would move Cesar Hernandez to short and Maikel Franco to second. Among his third-base options would be Mitch Walding, Jorge Alfaro and Carlos Santana.
“In a crazy world,” the manager said, “Odubel can play second.”
*** For a second consecutive start, Nick Pivetta Sunday was caught by Andrew Knapp.
“Knappy and Pivetta have worked well together, so I don’t want to discount that,” Kapler said. “But we would have no problem using Alfaro with Pivetta. We don’t want to fall into any pattern that would create a reliance, if you will.
“There is the offensive component to it as well. We have a young right-handed pitcher on the mound for them (Jefry Rodriguez) who we think profiles pretty well against Knappy.”