Now that the Giants acquired Andrew McCutchen in a three-player trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday, the next question is which outfield position will the 31-year-old play? McCutchen played 13 games in right field last season, but for most of his career McCutchen has patrolled center field. Although transitioning to the vast center field at AT&T Park can be daunting, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale told Fitz & Brooks on Monday afternoon that he has faith in the veteran outfielder to make the adjustment.
“He’s done them both. He was originally supposed to play right field, but when he got moved back to centerfield last year he did fine. He showed a lot of people he can still do it,” Nightengale said. “I wouldn’t be surprised to see him play centerfield.”
After spending the first eight years of his career solely as a centerfielder, McCutchen was bumped to right field when Starling Marte took over his former position. Eventually, McCutchen reclaimed his centerfield job when Marte was handed an 80-game suspension last season for illegal steroids and showed a slight defensive improvement.
In 2016, McCutchen was one of the worst defensive players in baseball with -28 defensive runs saved and a -18.7 ultimate zone rating. Although his gradual decline in fielding percentage, which started at .994 in 2015 and took a dip last season to .987, continued in 2017, McCutchen showed improvement in the form of a 16 DRS and -4.6 UZR.
“He played a fine centerfield last year and bounced back. The metrics and everything else prove that by bouncing back like he did,” Nightengale said. “They don’t have that natural centerfielder ready to take over the job either. It’s not like they’re getting Cain or anyone else. Why not at least try?”
To listen to the full interview check out the podcast below, and skip to 5:18 for Nightengale on McCutchen.