McCutchen can’t see ball, umpire can’t track McCutchen
PHILADELPHIA » On an evening when he had a right to wonder about the accuracy of an umpire’s eyesight, Andrew McCutchen was willing to admit to vision challenges of his own.
McCutchen was called out Saturday night for leaving the basepath at second by ump Jose Navas in what was developing as a turning-point seventh inning of an eventual 5-4 loss to the Mets. Replays and accompanying graphics proved he had not strayed from his allowable space, but such judgment calls aren’t reviewable.
When Matt Joyce was found in a replay challenge to have been out at first base, a potential Phillies rally had disintegrated into a deflating double play.
“I’m sorry, that was as clear as it can be,” Joe Girardi said. “And it might have cost us the game.”
That was one reason, and a big one.
Another came in the first when Pete Alonso sliced a line drive that McCutchen was unable to locate in left. As the ball rolled to the fence, two runs scored.
The game had a relatively odd 6:05 start, thus providing challenging shadows. But McCutchen did wonder about what he has found to be a troubling, season-long inability to consistently see line drives off the bat.
“Honestly, I lost the ball when I was coming in on it,” McCutchen said. “I’ve had two balls here that I’ve lost on line drives. I’ve had a ball on the road that I’ve lost on a line drive. I’m not too certain of what it is, or if it just happens to be the time of day where I am not able to see or decipher the ball from the backdrop right now. It just seems to be those day games or those shadows right there. But I am losing it. I am losing the ball.
“I’m getting a good jump on the ball. I know I can catch it. But I’m losing it as I am trying to catch the ball. That ball needs to be caught. So whatever I’ve got to do to work on catching those balls, I am going to do that. I’ll be out the first thing tomorrow working on line drives and my angles to catch it.”
With his self-criticism about his vision established, McCutchen was not hesitant to blame Navas for his fuzzy seventh-inning view of the base path.
“I was trying to get to second base to be in position for the guys hitting behind me to drive me in,” McCutchen said. “And to have that ripped away from you, that definitely can test your patience. We know nobody is going to be perfect, but we just want to get it right.”
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Bryce Harper missed his third consecutive game with a wrist injury suffered when he was hit by a pitch in St. Louis. J.T. Realmuto was out for a second straight game after injuring his hand trying to corral a David Hale wild pitch against the Cardinals.
Both could be available Sunday night in the series finale.
“We’re hopeful,” Girardi said.
“We just have to see how their wrists feel when they come in.”
Harper did make one contribution, being tossed for protesting the botched call in the seventh.
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In his sixth game in the year-plus since an alleged domestic violence incident, Odubel Herrera went 0-for-4, his average diving to .056. In a growing trend, the crowd of 10,948 loudly booed him after each plate failure.
With Adam Haseley absent indefinitely for personal reasons, Scott Kingery sputtering, Roman Quinn on the COVID protocol list and Mickey Moniak having had similar plate struggles, Girardi is low on centerfield options.
“I mean, we’ve given every other centerfielder a chance, right?” the manager said. “We’re going to give (Herrera) a chance. And I know there’s frustration. I get that. I know some people don’t approve of what’s happening here. But we’re not allowed to make an ‘opinion’ and say, ‘We don’t like this, we don’t like that.’ That’s not what’s negotiated between Major League Baseball and the Players Association.
“So, I mean, he’s going to get a chance. We’re waiting for one of these centerfielders to just take a hold of this and run with this.”
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Despite being eligible, Jean Segura, on the injured list since April 21 with a strained left quad, was not reactivated Saturday. He was replaced by Nick Maton, who doubled in the second and a singled in the sixth. He’s had multiple hits in six of his first 12 major-league games.
Maton had been the first Phillie since Jimmy Rollins in 2000 to have five multi-hit games in his first 10 big-league appearances.
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NOTES » Didi Gregorius went 0-for-4, but contributed a couple of meaningful defensive plays after a one-game stay on the COVIDrelated injured list … Moniak was recalled when Quinn was placed on the COVID-related injured list.