Former Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard put up some amazing stats during his 13-year career in the majors, most of which was tied to his prodigious power at the plate.
As all baseball fans know, swinging for the fences also leads to a lot of strikeouts.
Howard tallied more than 1800 whiffs, with an average of 190 Ks per season during his career with the Phillies.
It was a small consolation, however, for the 382 dingers he smashed for the franchise in the “City of Brotherly Love.” Howard sits second all-time in homers in Phillies history trailing Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt.
Howard also drove in 1,194 runs, ranking him third in Phillies history behind the aforementioned Schmidt and Ed Delahanty. He ranks fourth all-time in extra-base hits for the Phils and second in intentional walks. Case in point, pitchers feared him with players in scoring position.
In 2006, Howard won NL MVP, and the Home Run Derby in an exciting overtime slugfest, beating Mets star third baseman David Wright (23-22).
Howard was bit of a late bloomer as he didn’t become a regular in the Phils lineup until he was 26, but he had finally arrived.
But, he quickly made up for lost time, by becoming the fastest player in major league history to 1,000 RBIs as well as 100 and then 200 home runs.
While impressive but also ignominious, Howard also holds the MLB record for Golden Sombreros, the distinct honor of striking out four times in one game.
He amassed this swing-and-miss feat 27 times in his career.
The price of power comes high, for Howard’s time in the majors he earned a whopping $180.3 million, which in turn amounted to roughly $115,000 per game. Howard homered in 24% of the games played for the Phillies, receiving about $472K per long ball.
While that might seem exorbitant, consider that former Mariner-Ranger-Yankee star Alex Rodriguez earned more than $142K per game for his 22-year MLB career, and he was getting about $475K per dinger.
Just as a comparison, in 2020 dollars, Babe Ruth earned $12.7 million for his 22 seasons, and with his 714 homers, he was paid a paltry $17,800 per moon shot.
Howard’s dollar for dingers rate is an unfair measure of his value.
His $180 million career earnings were backloaded. Roughly 33% of that total came over his last three seasons the bigs, which were, because of injury, among his least productive years.
In 2011, Howard suffered a serious Achilles injury in a playoff game against the Cardinals and was never the same. In his final four seasons, he basically playing on one foot snd curtailing a sure shot Hall of Fame career.
The first eight years of Howard’s career were Hall of Fame worthy as he dominated MLB pitching and displayed historic power from his Rookie of the Year campaign in 2005 to the end of the 2011.
The game’s still searching for a Black first baseman with Howard’s skill, power and accolades.
While McCutchen was sent to the injured list, the veteran has been feeling good despite being sidelined.
“We’re progressing in the right direction,” McCutchen told the Philadelphia Inquirer. “I’m hoping the closer we get to the 10 days I’ll be ready to go.”
When he started feeling discomfort in his knee, he got an MRI and it revealed that it was only inflammation.
Now that’s good news for Phillies fans because the team can’t afford to lose McCutchen for the rest of the season with the way he’s been playing.
At the same, the Phillies definitely wanted to be cautious with McCutchen and not let him play through it.
“Initially I was like, ‘Shoot, [it’s] a knee. Let’s figure this thing out,’ ” McCutchen said. “But once I got the OK that I’m OK, I was like, ‘All right, I can get back out and go after it.’ ”
McCutchen has dealt with injuries throughout his career, so he’s no stranger to body care.
McCutchen knows that if it was up to him he would be playing, but the Phillies have something different in mind.
“I can go out and run right now, but of course they want to have a plan,” he said. “My plan is different from theirs. I could be out shagging fly balls right now. I’m sure I’ll be doing some type of running or something [Friday] and kind of go from there.”
The five-time All-Star hopes to return to the lineup soon and even maybe sooner than expected.
Unfortunately, injuries are a part of the game and the Phillies want to make sure McCutchen is at full strength before he returns.
Not only has McCutchen been one of the top hitters for the Phillies, he’s been one of the top sluggers in the National League over the last two months.
Going into play on August 5th, McCutchen ranked seventh in slugging percentage (.574), tied for seventh in home runs (13), and tied for 10th in RBI (37) since the beginning of June.
Our MLBbro made a complete turn around from the beginning of the season to up to this point now.
He’s shown that he’s still a force to be reckoned with at the plate and the power is still there at 34-years-old.
Through 98 games he’s hitting .234 with 20 home runs and 58 RBI.
Once he returns to the lineup, McCutchen will continue to play a key role for the Phillies as they look to make the playoffs.
Andrew McCutchen has done a complete 360 this season. The Philadelphia Phillies veteran outfielder has stepped up in a big way recently and has been one of the top hitters on the team.
As of a couple of hours ago, the former NL MVP is still raking.
“I told you, I like him in the RBI situations because I think he’s really good in those at-bats because he’s done it so much in his career,” Phillies manager Joe Girardi told The Philadelphia Inquirer. “I don’t think he tries to do too much. He’s patient and knows how to work counts and find a pitch to hit.”
McCutchen is letting people know that he still can make an impact out there and that he is not shying away from the big moment. One thing that McCutchen made sure he wasn’t going to do was to focus on his slump earlier in the season.
He continued to push past that and the success started to come for the five-time All-Star.
McCutchen recently had his third three-hit performance of the 2021 season on July 5th against the Chicago Cubs.
Our MLBbro went 3-for-5 that game with two doubles, an RBI, and two runs scored. The former NL MVP has been seeing the ball really well lately and has contributed in a big way to the Phillies offense.
McCutchen’s teammates have always believed in him this season, even when he wasn’t that productive at the plate.
“He’s been able to stick with his approach since opening day,” Rhys Hoskins said. “He’s always been able to get on base, he’s really been doing that all year. Everyone that knows him and has been around him, knew at some point that the bat was going to come around. He’s done it his whole career. It’s really cool to see him go on the run that he’s on now.”
Going into June, McCutchen had a .201 batting average. At the end of June, his batting average jumped to .231.
This 34-year-old continues to quiet those who doubted him, starting with his original team, the Pittsburgh Pirates who dumped McCutchen after nine years and leading them from baseball’s Saigon to a playoff contender. In fact, McCutchen hit a career-high 28 bombs in his final season with the Pirates. But that’s all water under the bridge now — same as his brief stints with the San Francisco Giants and New York Yankees.
He’s finally feeling frisky in Philly.
Through 77 games, he’s batting .234 with 13 home runs and 42 RBI. McCutchen is second on the team in RBI and third in home runs.
Cutch has provided the leadership that the Phillies need and a whole vibe, that is contagious throughout the clubhouse.
McCutchen is the consummate pro and knows when to have fun with his teammates and knows when it’s time to be serious.
He’s in his third season with the Phillies and he has become a fan favorite since joining the team.
McCutchen may be in his 30s but this man can still ball at a high level. He can still go out there and track the ball with the best of them in the outfield while demonstrating impressive power from the right side of the dish.
If you’re a pitcher and you make a mistake against McCutchen, just know that he will make you pay.
Nothing much has changed. He’s still eating out here.
If you have not been watching Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Andrew McCutchen recently, then you are missing out. By the time his Sunday was complete, he had reached career milestones in doubles (35) and runs scored (1,000).
The 34-year-old has seen the ball really well since the end of May. He is currently on a six-game hitting streak, which has increased his batting average to .225 on the year.
His 10 home runs are second on the team and he is also second on the team in RBI with 28. Even though his batting average may not be up to par, he’s still been swinging a hot stick.
And his hits have been timely. The former 2013 National League MVP still has some power in his bat. During his six-game hitting streak, he’s 9-for-20 with three home runs with seven RBI.
McCutchen came through big time in the Phillies’ 5-2 victory over the Nationals on June 5. He only had one hit that game, but that hit was a three-run homer that helped the Phillies seal the victory.
The next day, on June 6, he went 2-for-4 at the plate with a double, an RBI and two runs scored.
After that game, McCutchen talked about his performance and how he came and delivered for his team. Beyond the stick, McCutchen’s leadership is also invaluable.
“That’s what it’s all about,” McCutchen told the Philadelphia Inquirer. “We don’t get many opportunities like that so when we do, you have to be able to capitalize. We were able to do that.”
The Phillies took two of three from the Nationals in their recent series. McCutchen was one of the Phillies’ top hitters during the series, going 5-for-10 with four RBI.
When the 2021 season started, McCutchen got off to a slow start. The 13-year veteran hit an abysmal .169 for April.
In baseball, there will be times where players face slumps and aren’t hitting the way they want to. One thing you have to continue to do is continue to stay positive and always and be ready for the next opportunity.
When May rolled around, McCutchen started to see more success at the plate. He went on a six-game hitting streak during the month.
One area McCutchen has had success this season is hitting off of left-handed pitchers. In a separate article from the Philadelphia Inquirer that was published on June 3, it stated that McCutchen was hitting .301 against lefties.
“Sometimes I can fall into these patterns to where I’m one way on a lefty, and then when a righty comes in, the approach kind of changes,” McCutchen said. “I feel like lefties, maybe I’m diving over the plate.
“Righties come in, and I’m diving, and I’m missing pitches that I should be hitting. It’s just about centering that and fine-tuning it so you can be even-keeled against a lefty or a righty. I don’t look at it as a problem. I just look at it as a challenge.”
I dont mean this in a cocky way. But I’ve learned that you have to believe in yourself before anyone else can. Ppl will give up on you if you dont meet their expectations. I will never give up on me. Self talk is the best talk. Let’s get em Tuesday https://t.co/u2UxlX45xD
So even though his overall numbers aren’t the best this season, McCutchen still has a lot of value to this Phillies team. He’s the type of player that can change the game with one swing of the bat and he’s displayed that his whole career.
Now in his third year with the Phillies, McCutchen will look to continue to establish himself as a threat at the plate and in the field.
