The Mets have shown interest in veteran outfielder Andrew McCutchen, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post (Twitter link). New York joins the Rays and Dodgers as teams known to have checked in regarding the former MVP this offseason.
McCutchen is one of the better right-handed hitting outfielders remaining in free agency. At age 36, he’s no longer the dynamic superstar he was at his peak. Yet the five-time All-Star still has a patient plate approach and decent power. McCutchen connected on 17 home runs while drawing walks in 9.8% of his 580 plate appearances with the Brewers last season. He made hard contact on 40% of his batted balls, around four points higher than the league average.
Overall, his .237/.316/.384 line was right around league average. McCutchen has posted approximately average offensive numbers three years running, although the shape of his production was different last year than in previous seasons. From 2020-21 as a member of the Phillies, he stumbled to a .204/.297/.364 line against right-handed pitching but tattooed southpaws at a .290/.402/.603 clip. His splits were fairly even in 2022. McCutchen improved to .237/.316/.384 against same-handed arms but dropped back to .221/.303/.434 when holding the platoon advantage.
McCutchen is essentially limited to the corner outfield or designated hitter at this stage of his career. He started a pair of games in center last season but that marked his first action up the middle since 2019. He’s played primarily left field of late. Public metrics weren’t especially found of his glovework in Philadelphia, but Defensive Runs Saved credited him as five runs better than the average left fielder over 268 1/3 innings there last season. Milwaukee gave him more run at designated hitter but he’s capable of logging at least part-time corner outfield work.
It’s that role for which the Mets are ostensibly eyeing him. New York has a quality starting trio of Mark Canha, Brandon Nimmo and Starling Marte. Nimmo has had a number of injured list stints throughout his career, while both Canha and Marte are into their mid-30’s. Khalil Lee, coming off a .211/.326/.366 showing in Triple-A, is the only other natural outfielder on the 40-man roster. There’s appeal for New York in adding a quality player to the bench to reduce the need to count on Lee in the event of an injury. A center field-capable player might be preferable, but Marte at least gives New York some cover as insurance behind Nimmo if the Mets were to add a corner-only bat.
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