Notes: CF options; Miller's (many) gloves

PHILADELPHIA -- Phillies manager Joe Girardi spoke in generalities Tuesday when asked about Odúbel Herrera and other players at the team’s alternate site in Allentown, Pa.

He only said that players there are making progress.

“The at-bats have been pretty good,” he said.

Herrera’s performance in Allentown is being closely monitored. Roman Quinn started in center field in Tuesday night’s game against the Mets at Citizens Bank Park. He entered the game 0-for-5 with four strikeouts and two runs. He threw out Ozzie Albies at the plate in Saturday’s victory over the Braves. Adam Haseley is 2-for-8 with three strikeouts. He lost a ball in the wind in Monday’s victory over the Mets.

Four games are hardly enough time to draw any conclusions about either player, but the Phillies need consistent production in center field.

“His at-bats have been OK,” Girardi said about Haseley. “They’ve definitely been OK. Give Q a night tonight and see how he does. Again, Adam is coming off that [left adductor] injury, so we are a little bit conscious of that.”

Herrera is not on the 40-man roster, so the Phillies will need to make room for him if they promote him. Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said before Opening Day that he had ownership’s OK to place Herrera on the 26-man roster, if he wanted, following his May 2019 arrest and 85-game suspension by MLB for violating the league’s domestic abuse policy.

In the end, the Phillies chose Quinn and Haseley. Dombrowski said Herrera did not separate himself from the pack in Spring Training and he needed more playing time after missing so much time since his suspension. He is getting that chance in Allentown.

Nice mitts
Brad Miller started at first base Tuesday against Mets right-hander Marcus Stroman, who struggled against left-handers in 2019.

Miller signed a one-year, $3.5 million contract to be the Phillies’ No. 1 option off the bench. He carries three gloves with him: one for the outfield, one for the infield and one for first base.

“It’s Paul Goldschmidt’s,” Miller said about his first baseman’s glove. “He saw mine last year and said it was trash. So, he’s like, this is not going to work. I mean, it was my only one. So, Goldy gave me one. Not a bad one at all.”

He got an all-red infielder’s mitt on Monday. He could not take it off in the dugout.

“Everybody was making fun of me, but it is pretty sweet,” he said.

Be aggressive, but be smart
The Phillies have made three outs running the bases in four games: Bryce Harper twice and Rhys Hoskins once, although Harper still looks safe on instant replay going from first to third on a ball on Opening Day against the Braves.

Regardless, only the Dodgers have made more outs running the bases.

“You don’t want to take away from their aggressiveness, but you also need to remind them that we can’t be too aggressive,” Girardi said. “So, there’s a fine line there. I think for the most part it will pay off over the course of the year. I think sometimes in the beginning there’s a little bit too much excitement and you have to kind of calm that down.”