Although it is now known that Andrew McCutchen will take over right field (relocating Hunter Pence to left field), what’s next for the Giants to figure out is where the 31-year-old outfielder will bat in the lineup. Some say in the middle of the order, specifically No. 3 as he did with the Pittsburgh Pirates, but former teammate Ryan Vogelsong argued on Murph & Mac Tuesday morning that McCutchen could leadoff for the Giants next season, likening him to Rickey Henderson.
“He kind of reminds me of Rickey Henderson,” Vogelsong said. “He’s in that leadoff hole, but if you make a mistake early in the at bat, or in the game, it’s going to be 1-0 Giants. I think that’s something as a pitcher, you never want to do that. You never want to start the game down 1-0 after one hitter and Andrew can do that when he leads off.”
Although it’s been six seasons since his last time leading off, McCutchen has led off 236 games in his career, which is good for 1060 plate appearances. He’s only made more appearances in the third spot in the lineup (959 GS, 4153 PA).
As a rookie in 2009, McCutchen led off 108 games and boasted a .286 batting average with 12 home runs. Over time, his appearances in the leadoff spot dwindled from 82 in 2010 to 46 in 2011; but overall McCutchen is a .277 leadoff hitter with a .357 OBP, 30 home runs and 47 stolen bases.
As for Henderson, the Man of Steal spent a majority of his 25-year career as a leadoff hitter. Henderson was renowned throughout baseball for not only his ability as a traditional leadoff hitter, who got on base with a career .401 OBP and stole 1384 of his all-time 1406 stolen bases as the leadoff man, but he also could give his team an early one-run lead, starting 81 games with a home run.
However, the Giants have a leadoff man in their centerfielder Gorkys Hernandez, but he is only a .201 leadoff hitter with a .237 OBP and zero home runs in that spot in the lineup over his two seasons in San Francisco. If the need arises, Vogelsong believes McCutchen can excel as the Giants’ leadoff man in 2018.
“That’s the thing about Andrew, he has the ability to hit in the middle of your lineup, he can hit leadoff because he is a very disciplined hitter. One of the other things that made him tough to get out is he doesn’t really go out of his zone,” Vogelsong said. “He does have the ability to hit leadoff and he still has the speed to be a leadoff hitter.”
To listen to the full interview check out the podcast below, and skip to 7:30 for Vogelsong on McCutchen