Cutch and Go

 

Perhaps the biggest plus of the DH being adopted universally is that my favorite player can be an everyday player still without having to play subpar outfield.

There's lots more pluses, even the baseball purists can admit that. More use for players who've been stuck as bench options, less opportunity to waste an at-bat by making the pitcher bat, uses for people like Albert Pujols who shouldn't have to play off the bench in their final seasons. But mostly, for me, more playing time for Andrew McCutchen even if he doesn't play the outfield. 

The weird thing is, I should be sad that Cutch is no longer a Phillie. I have both a t-shirt and a jersey of Cutch's Phils duds. I tried to go to as many Phils games as I could the last few years so I could get to see Cutch play locally, and last year he did end up hitting a bomb for me. So it's very sad that he's not back this year. But...he's not on a team I dislike. And he's found his way onto a still very strong Brewers lineup. So it could be a lot worse.

And so far, Cutch is hitting .259 with 7 hits and 4 RBIs, and he's been a pretty consistent plate presence in Milwaukee. Yes, it's sad that he can't make as many wonderful leaping catches in the outfield, but he's also 35 and the Brewers have Christian Yelich, Hunter Renfroe and a still-agile Lorenzo Cain [who is 36]. What is odd so far is that Cutch is currently leading the team in hits, even with Willy Adames, Kolten Wong, Christian Yelich and Rowdy Tellez on this team.

Even more horrifyingly, the Brewers couldn't pull more than a 2-run lead over the Baltimore Orioles during the entire series, even losing a game 2-0 to them with Bruce Zimmermann on the mound. This is the Milwaukee Brewers, the team that won the NL Central last year and was touted to do so again this year. What are we doing doing tight matches with the O's?

What's also horrifying is that the pitching, which was so concise and potent last year, isn't as sharp. Woodruff has a much better start today, and Burnes is still in good shape, but Freddy Peralta's struggling early, Lauer has a 6.75 ERA already and Houser got the loss in his first start. The bullpen has needed to do a lot of mop-up work, and luckily Hader, Brad Boxberger, Hoby Milner and Jake Cousins are all in nice shape. But...something isn't clicking immediately with this team. 

I think they'll pull it together over time, and it's a good sign that they put up such a fight against the Cardinals today. But hopefully Cutch won't need to be the sole source of contact magic this year for them.

Coming Tomorrow- An infielder for a team that was absolutely gutted a month ago.