Mccutchen not forgotten YANKEES
Legacy of former leadoff hitter still with New York
Andrew Mccutchen may not be in pinstripes anymore, but his chutzpah lives on in the Bronx.
The f ive- time All- Star and former NL MVP spent a short period of time with the Yankees last season. Mccutchen joined the Yankees on Aug. 31, 2018 in a trade with the Giants. The very next day he batted leadoff in front of Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Hicks and Miguel Andujar. Mccutchen soon helped the Bombers make a push into the AL Wild Card Game against Oakland. What Mccutchen didn’t know then was the lasting impression he’d make on his coach and teammates.
In the span of 25 reg ular- season games and f ive postseason matchups with the Bombers, Mccutchen taught the Yankees the importance of working the zone. Walks: they ’re anticlimactic, but they ’re valuable. So he added a little f lair and created a competition out of drawing bases on balls.
“Any time that he would walk to lead off a game, it was a bat f lip,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.
Giancarlo Stanton upheld Mccutchen’s ability to make the mundane look f lashy in Game 1 of
the AL D Saga inst the Twin son Friday night. The Yankees outfield er went 0- for -1 with three walks. All three times Stanton took ball four, he flipped his bat in both excitement and disgust. He took of f his batting gloves and didn’t even bother to watch his barrel lurch toward t he Yankees dugout.
To t he sold- out Yankee Stadium crowd, it may have looked like Stanton was angry at the umpire or letting off steam. Boone, t hough, quick ly rejected that notion. The Yankees skip per said Stanton was just picking up where Mc cut chen left off.
“Cut ch did a lot of great things over here, especially being a lead off hitter ,” Aaron Judge said. “He had some pop, but he’s another g uy t hat f it rig ht into t his mold of working t he count. If it ain’t in t he zone, he ain’t gonna sw ing.
“We fed of f t hat last year and now even t his year. Having DJ ( Lemahieu) at t he top of t he lineup, a g uy you can’t go to t he middle of t he plate or he’s gonna do damage, and we just feed of f each other t his year,” he sa id.
The Yankees haven’t forgotten about Mccutchen’s laborious approach at t he plate. They ta ke pride in g rinding out at- bats, and being patient is making t he Bombers’ a lready let ha l lineup t hat much more menacing.
Working t he zone a l lows t he Yankees to force t he opposing pitcher out of his sta r t sooner t han he’d li ke. Then, t he Bombers get to t he bullpen early and relievers are recycled. That approach is especia l ly advantageous in t he postseason.