Phillies’ Andrew McCutchen to miss remainder of 2019 season with torn ACL

Phillies outfielder Andrew McCutchen will miss the rest of the season after sustaining a torn ACL in Monday’s loss to the Padres, as the team announced Tuesday and The Athletic’s Matt Gelb relayed on Twitter. McCutchen suffered the injury while getting caught in a rundown between first and second base, as you can see in the video below:

It was quite evident that McCutchen sensed the severity of the situation immediately following the game, as he sent this tweet out at nearly 11:00 p.m. San Diego time:

The 32-year-old McCutchen, the 2013 NL MVP, had posted a solid .256/.378/.457 slash line with 10 homers in 262 plate appearances, spending most of his time in left field after playing center field for most of his career and then shifting to right field last year with the Giants. His injury is a brutal blow to the Phillies, who are just half a game ahead of the Braves for the NL East lead and relied on McCutchen as a major part of their offense. They signed him to a three-year, $50 million contract prior to this season, so at the very least, that contract looks like a bad one for the remainder of 2019. A torn ACL isn’t the worst injury in the world for an outfielder, but with McCutchen’s speed and athleticism already declining over the past few years, it may be a bit difficult for him to bounce back in the field.

Since center fielder Odúbel Herrera was placed on the restricted list following a domestic violence arrest on Memorial Day, McCutchen had been pressed into action at his former position of center field (he also spent some time there earlier in the season while Herrera was on the injured list. At least until Herrera’s situation is resolved, Adam Haseley — the No. 8 overall pick in 2017 and the team’s top outfield prospect — will become Philadelphia’s everyday center fielder after having his contract purchased Tuesday. The 23-year-old Virginia product has played just six games above Double-A but had posted a strong .275/.358/.466 line with seven homers in 47 total games between Double-A and Triple-A this year. Scott Kingery, who has gotten starts there in recent weeks, will now be the Phillies’ primary third baseman but also remains an option in center — as does utility man Sean Rodríguez — going forward.

Given McCutchen’s injury, the Phillies must be thankful that they traded for journeyman Jay Bruce over the weekend. The 32-year-old, who is hitting .214/.283/.530 in 187 PAs between Philly and Seattle this season, will be Philadelphia’s primary left fielder going forward with McCutchen out for the year and Herrera out indefinitely.