The Phillies had a pretty nice April picking up an unexpected 14 wins largely due to great starting pitching. However, my biggest surprise for the first month of the Season was Odubel Herrera.
2016 Phungo #20 Odubel Herrera
I had felt Herrera's .297 BA 2015 Season was a bit of an anomaly and that he would have a bit of a drop off during his sophomore season. It is early but it is worth mentioning Herrera has maintained a decent average so far in 2016 - more impressive are his 23 WALKS! This from a man how walked 28 times in 537 PAs a year ago.
Inducing walks is something a player can work on, but I would never have expected it out of Herrera so early in his career. I hope that he continues to walk and/or gets more strikes and knocks them all over the park. His 4 XBHs in his 80 April ABs this year puts Odubel on pace for close to 25 Long Hits for the season which would be down 39% from his total of 41 in 2016. There are some sample size issues there, but lets hope that Herrera doesn't lose to much of his power while watching his Bases on Ball number shoot up.
Regardless according to several metrics he is better off walking. His 138 OPS+ number is a step up from the respectable 108 he posted in 2015 and his 0.9 oWAR is a solid month for a player who posted a full season oWAR of +2.7 a year ago.
For Future reference I captured the Phillies WAR numbers for April 2016
Table Includes games through 2016 0430
2016 Phungo Cards
I never get around to posting as man Phungo cards as I want. I had brief thoughts of putting Herrera on the #1 card, but in the end it was rightfully given to Maikel Franco. Odubel gets the Hero #20.
The photo is a bit of an oddity, I think this is what is referred to as a 3/4 rear angle or something similar. Regardless I try and get my shots from somewhere up front or at worst in profile. It is real rare for me to select a photo from behind a player. This one past the interesting test because I believe you can feel the pitch coming in and we get to see Odubel Herrera's distinctive leg kick.
The picture was taken during a 5-2 loss to the Braves. Herrera went 1-4 in the game with a single. Perhaps pre-saging his 2016 BB surge he led all Phillies in pitches seen with 17. For more details and pix from that game click here.
Sources and Links
2016 Phungo Checker
WAR stories
Baseball-ref
I had felt Herrera's .297 BA 2015 Season was a bit of an anomaly and that he would have a bit of a drop off during his sophomore season. It is early but it is worth mentioning Herrera has maintained a decent average so far in 2016 - more impressive are his 23 WALKS! This from a man how walked 28 times in 537 PAs a year ago.
Inducing walks is something a player can work on, but I would never have expected it out of Herrera so early in his career. I hope that he continues to walk and/or gets more strikes and knocks them all over the park. His 4 XBHs in his 80 April ABs this year puts Odubel on pace for close to 25 Long Hits for the season which would be down 39% from his total of 41 in 2016. There are some sample size issues there, but lets hope that Herrera doesn't lose to much of his power while watching his Bases on Ball number shoot up.
Regardless according to several metrics he is better off walking. His 138 OPS+ number is a step up from the respectable 108 he posted in 2015 and his 0.9 oWAR is a solid month for a player who posted a full season oWAR of +2.7 a year ago.
For Future reference I captured the Phillies WAR numbers for April 2016
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Pitchers
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WAR ▾
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Batters
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WAR ▾
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0.9
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1.0
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||
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0.8
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0.7
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||
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0.7
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0.2
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||
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0.7
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0.2
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||
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0.4
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0.2
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||
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0.3
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0.2
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||
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0.3
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0.1
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||
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Charlie Morton (15-day dl)
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0.3
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0.1
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|
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0.2
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0.0
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||
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Dalier Hinojosa (15-day dl)
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0.2
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0.0
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0.1
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Dalier Hinojosa (15-day dl)
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0.0
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|
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0.0
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0.0
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||
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Luis Garcia (40-man)
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0.0
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0.0
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|
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0.0
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0.0
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-0.3
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Luis Garcia (40-man)
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0.0
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Daniel Stumpf (40-man)*
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-0.3
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0.0
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-0.6
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0.0
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|
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Daniel Stumpf (40-man)*
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0.0
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0.0
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0.0
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|
|
|
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0.0
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|
|
|
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Charlie Morton (15-day dl)
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-0.1
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|
|
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-0.1
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|
|
|
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-0.1
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|
|
|
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-0.2
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|
|
|
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-0.3
|
|
|
|
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-0.3
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|
|
|
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-0.4
|
|
|
|
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-0.5
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|
|
|
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-0.5
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|
|
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-0.8
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Table Includes games through 2016 0430
2016 Phungo Cards
I never get around to posting as man Phungo cards as I want. I had brief thoughts of putting Herrera on the #1 card, but in the end it was rightfully given to Maikel Franco. Odubel gets the Hero #20.
The photo is a bit of an oddity, I think this is what is referred to as a 3/4 rear angle or something similar. Regardless I try and get my shots from somewhere up front or at worst in profile. It is real rare for me to select a photo from behind a player. This one past the interesting test because I believe you can feel the pitch coming in and we get to see Odubel Herrera's distinctive leg kick.
The picture was taken during a 5-2 loss to the Braves. Herrera went 1-4 in the game with a single. Perhaps pre-saging his 2016 BB surge he led all Phillies in pitches seen with 17. For more details and pix from that game click here.
Sources and Links
2016 Phungo Checker
WAR stories
Baseball-ref
