Phillies: Andrew McCutchen, ACL ‘Ready to Go’ for 2020 Season
By Matt Rappa
If and when the 2020 season begins, Phillies left fielder Andrew McCutchen says he and his previously torn ACL will be “ready to go.”
Had the 2020 season began on time, it would have been without Philadelphia Phillies left fielder Andrew McCutchen, who was still recovering from his surgery to repair his ACL, torn last June.
He would have been sidelined for at least a month, if not longer, after being limited to just 59 games last season.
Fast-forward to now, and the five-time All-Star and 2013 National League MVP says he will be “ready to go” for whenever the 2020 season begins.
“Now I know, whenever the time comes and we’re playing again, I’ll be ready to go,” McCutchen told NBC Sports Philadelphia. “I’m really gonna be itching to get out on the field and play but right now I just need to take care of business and take advantage of this time.”
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If and when the 2020 season gets underway, it will be McCutchen’s 12th. He has played all but 25 of his 1,560 career games in the National League, 1,346 of which with the Pittsburgh Pirates from 2009 to 2017. In 2018, he split time between the San Francisco Giants and New York Yankees, before debuting in red pinstripes in 2019.
McCutchen told NBC Sports Philadelphia that this is the longest he has ever gone without playing baseball “since he picked up a bat at 5 years old.” His Opening Day 2019 leadoff home run sparked the Gabe Kapler-led Phillies, and his presence, or lack thereof, was surely felt after his June injury. In 59 games, he slashed .256/.378/.457 with 12 doubles, 10 home runs, 29 RBI, 43 walks and 55 strikeouts spanning 262 plate appearances. In the field, he committed just two errors spanning 110 chances.
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In a sense, the delay of the 2020 season helped the Phillies in the sense that his missing bat would be felt once again. He says Adam Haseley, Roman Quinn or J.T. Realmuto could have filled in the leadoff role, but that he “didn’t pay much attention” to who it would have been “because I’m the leadoff guy.”
Injured or not, just when McCutchen will take the field again in a Phillies uniform is now unknown.