Phillies: Andrew McCutchen’s defense continues to get worse and worse

While a majority of the discourse surrounding the Philadelphia Phillies loss last night will be on the botched umpire decision that took place late in the ballgame, another rather significant turning play that involved Andrew McCutchen took place earlier in the evening – a play that was far more impactful than the blown call at second base.

With Zack Wheeler laboring through a rough first inning, he allowed Michael Conforto to hit a rather sharp line drive to left field with runners on second and third base. You can argue either way if the ball should have been caught or not, but regardless, the manner in which Cutch attempted to field it wasn’t exactly what you would expect out of a former Gold Glove winner (or any MLB outfielder for that matter):

Had Cutch either made the catch or fielded the ball cleanly off of one hop, there’s a half decent chance that Wheeler doesn’t give up four runs last night. He settled in pretty nicely after his shaky first inning.

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Cutch’s defense is a big problem for the Phillies at the moment.

While nobody expected McCutchen to be a “plus” defensive outfielder for the Phillies when he first signed back in 2019, the level at which he has regressed has been rather shocking. He went from being a decent fielder in 2019, to a bad fielder in 2020, to a downright liability here in 2021.

His defensive WAR is a -.02, his fielding percentage is at a career-low .969, and his range factor out in left field is over 40 points lower than the league average. Throw in a Rtot/yr (total fielding runs above average per 1,200 innings) of -23, and you’re looking at one of the worst defensive outfielders in baseball at the moment.

McCutchen’s torn ACL which he suffered back in 2019 has undoubtedly lowered his ability to cover space in the outfield, but I think it’s worth mentioning that a handful of his mishaps this season have come across looking like mental miscues, as opposed to lack of athleticism.

There was a pop up that squirted out of Cutch’s glove for seemingly no reason a few weeks back, and even last night’s mishap looks pretty bad upon closer look:

I would never go as far as to suggest Cutch “isn’t trying” out there, but there definitely seems to be a sense of relaxation from the veteran outfielder that isn’t particularly warranted at the moment. Taking into account both speed and age, Cutch needs to treat every fly ball like it’s a life or death situation.

The Phillies aren’t going to bench McCutchen this season due to his lofty salary, but I’m curious if Joe Girardi looks to start rotating the longtime Pirate out of left field on a more regular basis. His batting average still sits below .200 a month into the regular season, and his defense (or lack thereof) is genuinely making it harder for pitchers to keep runs off the scoresheet.