PHILADELPHIA — The Phillies invited Odubel Herrera to major league spring training, creating a path for the former All-Star outfielder to be on the team's opening day roster 21 months after he was arrested on domestic violence charges.
Herrera was suspended for 85 games by Major League Baseball in May of 2019 after being charged in Atlantic City with simple assault and knowingly causing bodily injury after leaving handprint markings and small scratches on his girlfriend's neck. The charges were dismissed two months later when his girlfriend declined to proceed with the case.
Herrera, 29, was removed after the 2019 season from the 40-man roster and was exiled last spring to minor league camp. The Phillies did not add him last summer to their alternate site in Allentown, Pa., seeming to indicate that they would move on from the player they signed to a $30.5 million contract in 2016.
The Phillies, under MLB's collective bargaining agreement with the player's union, were not allowed to release Herrera unless the move was done solely on baseball reasons. Allowing him to play this spring in Clearwater, Fla., could be a way for the team to gauge how the fan base would react if Herrera played again in Philadelphia.
Tuesday's decision to bring Herrera to camp on a minor league deal provides a chance for him to work his way into the team's plans. The team's lone position vacancy is center field, the spot Herrera manned for five seasons. He hit .288 with a .744 OPS in his first three seasons, but had a .218 average over the last calendar year before his arrest, and he was bumped from the lineup.
He'll compete in Clearwater with the three players who replaced him last season: Adam Haseley, Roman Quinn and Scott Kingery. Herrera played just two games before being injured this winter in the Dominican, his first game action since May 26, 2019.
The Phillies also invited pitchers Tyler Carr, Enyel De Los Santos, Julian Garcia, JD Hammer, Jonathan Hennigan, Jakob Hernandez, Erik Miller, David Parkinson, David Paulino, and Zach Warren; catchers Edgar Cabral and Logan O'Hoppe; infielders Darick Hall, Bryson Stott, and Luke Williams; and outfielders Jhailyn Ortiz, Johan Rojas, and Matt Vierling.
They signed catcher 37-year-old Jeff Mathis, a 16-year veteran, to a minor league deal with an invite to major league camp.
