MLB | No doubt Herrera most worthy to rep Phillies at All-Star Game

Odubel 'El Torito' Herrera, shown here flipping his bat after drilling a home run against Detroit back in May, was named a National League All-Star on Tuesday. The center fielder leads the Phillies with a .302 batting average.

by Jack Kerwin  |  ydkjack1@gmail.com

He’s a deserving choice.

A legit choice.

A correct choice.

For all the hype and hoopla and “can you believe this” pinch-me-ness that surrounded the Phillies’ stunningly successful start to the 2016 season and accompanying “told you so” shaking-head-ness that followed with their depressing downfall soon after, one thing has remained a constant:

Odubel Herrera’s performance.

It has been all-star worthy and, fortunately, it has garnered the second-year major-leaguer a spot with the National League in baseball’s midsummer classic set for next Tuesday at San Diego’s Petco Park.

With apologies to Phillies fans who favor Jerad Eickhoff, Maikel Franco, Tommy Joseph or other non-bat-flipping fellas on the home team’s roster, “El Torito” was the best, if not only, option to represent Red Pinstripe Nation.

Frankly, largely overlooked catcher Cameron Rupp, who has made a mockery of all the “he’s just a backup” talk for months now, would have been the second best.

But if only one guy got to go, it had to be Herrera.

No doubt Joseph was a spirits-lifting revelation the first couple weeks of his big-league career, Franco has been hot of late while raising his batting average 22 points and homer total by four in just the past 10 games, and Eickhoff continues to crank out quality starts on a routine basis.

It’s just Herrera has been a constant, and entertaining, force throughout the entire first half of the season. Even as the squad nosedived in June, he didn’t exactly go down with the ship. Yeah, he had his worst month thus far in batting just .276, but he also hit three homers, drove in 11 runs and scored 16 while churning out seven multi-hit games, including a pair of four-knock efforts.

Doesn’t exactly hurt that the former infielder-turned-center fielder plays the game with a little flair, either. Maybe not Joanna from “Office Space”-level flair …

Still, the 24-year-old Venezuelan has been a spark ready to fire up even when the rest of the lineup remained all wet and soggy.

Truth be told, he has been the primary, day-to-day reason to watch the club all season, even during times it has struggled. Oddly, though, he seems to be getting lost in the shuffle among the faithful now with his teammates suddenly starting to hit a bit.

No bother. He just leads the Phillies in hits (94), runs scored (48), on-base percentage (.388) and batting average (.302) entering this afternoon’s game against Atlanta, and ranks eighth in the National League in hits and walks (44), ninth in the stolen bases and 13th in OBP.

His 10 home runs at this point have been a pleasant surprise, though not exactly an outlandish freak “accident.” Yeah, he didn’t arrive in town as a Rule 5 pick-up with the rep that he would deliver the long ball with some regularity, but, you know, he is a power-packed 5-foot-11, 206-pounder.

If that “pop” proves to be the norm instead of an anomaly relegated to a breakout season then the Phillies could be looking at a very nice 1-2 punch in their lineup moving forward as Franco, despite a slow start, certainly shows 30-homer talent.

At this point, Herrera seems to be a .300 talent out of the leadoff spot. Since crossing into that realm this season with a 2-for-4 outing against Cleveland back on April 29 only three days have passed since when he didn’t remain there.

Yo, being consistently good is the true mark of an all-star.

So, yeah, Herrera is deserving.

For all the hype and hoopla and “can you believe this” pinch-me-ness that surrounded the Phillies’ stunningly successful start to the 2016 season and accompanying “told you so” shaking-head-ness that followed with their depressing downfall soon after, one thing has remained a constant: Odubel Herrera’s performance. It has been all-star worthy and, fortunately, it has garnered the second-year major-leaguer a spot with the National League in baseball’s midsummer classic set for next Tuesday at San Diego’s Petco Park. With apologies to Phillies fans who favor Jerad Eickhoff, Maikel Franco, Tommy Joseph or other non-bat-flipping fellas on the home team’s roster, “El Torito” was the best, if not only, option to represent Red Pinstripe Nation. Frankly, largely overlooked catcher Cameron Rupp, who has made a mockery of all the “he’s just a backup” talk for months now, would have been the second best. But if only one guy got to go, it had to be Herrera.