At his worst, Odubel Herrera can be frustrating to watch. The mental mistakes and the lapses in concentration are exasperating for a player of his ability.
But at his best, Herrera is one of the better outfielders in the National League. And right now, he's playing at that All-Star level.
Herrera, who had the first multi-homer game of his career in the Phillies' 7-3 win over the Braves Friday (see first take), has reached base in 27 straight games, best in the major leagues. He's hitting .348, second best in the National League. He's had a tremendous start to the season, to say the least. According to Gabe Kapler, that production is a result of his focused mindset.
"Odubel has been locked in," Kapler said. "When I say locked in, I don't mean hot, like swinging the bat well. I mean locked in and focused and prepared. I don't think there's been a pitch where we've looked at him and said, ‘I don't think he's into this right now.' No, he's been laser-sharp focused, all season long."
The fidgeting outside the batter's box, the bat flips, the colorful image – it all tends to overshadow how good a hitter Herrera really is. Kapler sounded in awe of Herrera's skills.
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"It's really fascinating to watch him swing at a pitch that he might not be able to drive, and then that pitcher will go right back to the same location and he's right on it," Kapler said. "He makes adjustments with the barrel, with the bat head, about as good as anybody I've seen.
He's just got really good contact skills, and those kind of contact skills with power produces the kind of game we saw tonight."
Case in point: Herrera wasn't even looking for the curveball from Max Fried in the sixth inning that he hit into the right-field bleachers to give the Phillies a 4-3 lead.
"I really thought he was going to throw me a fastball, since he'd thrown me two breaking balls already," Herrera said. "But it's such a slow breaking ball that I had time to adjust."
All this talent was obviously also present last year, when Herrera hit a somewhat disappointing .281, with a .325 on-base percentage. So what's changed?
There are a couple areas that may help explain Herrera's excellent start. First and foremost, there's the improved focus Kapler pointed to. Herrera's pitch selection has also been significantly better – last year, he swung at 41.3 percent of pitches outside the zone, compared to 33.8 percent heading into Friday's game. And he's going the other way more frequently – 37.1 percent of his batted balls have gone to the opposite field this year, up from last season's 31.1 percent.
For Herrera, however, there's no need to over-analyze his early success. To him, it's all about repetition.
"I feel very locked in," Herrera said. "I'm a big believer in my routine, I go to the cage every day, do my work with the hitting coach, and that's working out for me."
