Adam Haseley Out Four Weeks Due To Groin Strain

Phillies outfielder Adam Haseley suffered a moderate groin strain and will miss the next four weeks, manager Joe Girardi told reporters (including Matt Gelb of the Athletic). Haseley had been in competition for the season-opening center field job.

With Haseley now likely to open the season on the injured list, it seems Philadelphia will pick from a group of Scott Kingery, Roman Quinn, Mickey Moniak and non-roster invitee Odúbel Herrera in center. Kingery has shown flashes as a super-utility type over the past three seasons but is coming off a .159/.228/.283 line in 2020. Even if he gets the majority of starts in center, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him continue to get reps on the infield, where he’s played each of second, third and short rather extensively (although he played almost no shortstop in 2020). Quinn hasn’t hit much at the big league level, often missing time due to injury, but he’s a generally well-regarded defender. He’s also out of minor-league options, meaning he needs to break camp with the team or be exposed to other clubs.

Turning to either Moniak or Herrera would be more surprising. Moniak, the first overall pick in the 2016 draft, has been a decent but unspectacular minor-league performer. In his most recent action on the farm, he slashed .252/.303/.439 at Double-A in 2019. Herrera, meanwhile, once looked like a potential building block for the organization, signing a $30.5MM extension after a 2016 All-Star season. His production dipped in 2018 and he was terrible early in the 2019 season before being suspended as part of the league’s domestic violence policy. Herrera was removed from the 40-man after that year and hasn’t played in MLB since then. Nevertheless, he’s in spring training and has seemingly put himself back in the mix with a promising start there.