Phillies: Has Andrew McCutchen finally found his stride?

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When the Philadelphia Phillies signed outfielder Andrew McCutchen to a three-year contract before the 2019 season, they knew he wouldn’t fill up the stat sheet the way he did during the better part of the decade for the cross-state Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Phillies did, however, expect him to be a steady, top-of-the-lineup force for at least the first couple of seasons. Injuries and a pandemic limited the former MVP to just 116 games — slashing .255/.352/.445 with 20 home runs and 63 RBI — in that span. These are respectable numbers, but far from eye-popping.

Phillies outfielder Andrew McCutchen had a forgettable April showing.

McCutchen has had a glacially slow start to the 2021 season. Last month, he hit a dismal .169/.301/.548, with as many errors in the field as he had home runs (1). Defensively, McCutchen has been just as bad, if not worse — misplaying several balls hit to left field. His -2.8 Def rating on Fangraphs is the third-worst of all MLB left fielders and the worst in the National League. Meanwhile, McCutchen currently sports a -2 DRS (defensive runs saved), which indicates he has cost the Phillies two runs defensively this season.

A part of McCutchen’s struggles at the plate can simply be chalked up to bad luck. He’s currently sitting on a .270 batting average on balls in play (BABIP) this season, way below his .323 career average. McCutchen’s career-low was in 2011 when he had a BABIP of .291. This indicates that when he has made contact, the ball just hasn’t fallen for him and he’s been overly unlucky.

Andrew McCutchen #22 of the Philadelphia Phillies (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) /

Another big reason why the 34-year old outfielder wasn’t having the success at the plate that he’d like? He’s striking out far too much for a leadoff hitter.

Currently, McCutchen has struck out in 24.6 percent of his at-bats. If that pace continues, it would be by far his career-worst. That’s pretty much the exact opposite of what you want from your leadoff hitter.

After early struggles, Phillies OF Andrew McCutchen has looked much better.

On April 28, McCutchen acknowledged to reporters that he was struggling — even going so far as to say he was “sucking”, vowing to improve. So far, he’s made good on that promise.

McCutchen really picked it up at the plate in May and has looked like a different player — hitting .364/.432/.758 with four home runs. Even more impressive? He has 12 hits already this month, just one shy of his April total.

For comparison’s sake, McCutchen has played nine games in May compared to 22 in April. He’s also risen his season on-base percentage from .301 to .338, as well as his batting average —skyrocketing it from .169 to .227.

On Mother’s Day, McCutchen made highlight reels when he led off the Phillies’ Sunday Night Baseball featured contest with a home run. He deservedly hyped himself up as he rounded the bases. It marked his MLB-leading third leadoff home run of the season.

Currently, McCutchen has also pulled himself up toward the top of the Phillies leaderboards in a few key categories. He is currently tied for the team lead in walks (19), ranks third in home runs (5), and ranks fifth in RBI (15) and runs scored (14).

Andrew McCutchen, Philadelphia Phillies (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images) /

So far this month May, Phillies outfielder Andrew McCutchen‘s batting average on balls in play (BABIP) has been a completely different story — an incredibly high .381, compared to .226 throughout April. He’s making stronger contact, with an exit velocity that is up to 90.2 miles per hour (88.5 miles per hour in April).

Even if some of these figures are realistically unsustainable, it is still great to see signs of life from McCutchen and know that the first month of the season was a cold streak for him — rather not his new normal.

Phillies lineup shuffle could help Andrew McCutchen.

Before Sunday’s nationally televised matchup with Atlanta, Phillies manager Joe Girardi dropped first baseman Rhys Hoskins from second in the batting order down to seventh, as he’s in the midst of a cold streak. Girardi instead opted to hit second baseman Jean Segura in the two-hole.

The Phillies skipper’s shuffle with the batting order is something that should positively affect McCutchen going forward. In addition to getting Hoskins started again, this should allow McCutchen to see better pitches — as Segura has been smoking hot since coming off the injured last week and will be batting directly behind him.

The Phillies have to hope that this is not just a short-lived hot streak and that McCutchen has truly turned the corner. The stats indicate that he is certainly out of his slump for now. That is a great sign, as the postseason-hopeful Phillies need him to keep setting the tone for the rest of the lineup.

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