The Jay Bruce trade is starting to look even better for the Philadelphia Phillies after a stroke of bad luck.
Veteran outfielder Andrew McCutchen suffered a sprained knee during a rundown in the first inning of Monday night’s 8-2 loss to the San Diego Padres.
It was the Phillies’ fifth-straight loss as their lead atop the NL East continues to dwindle.
After drawing a lead-off walk, McCutchen was caught in the rundown after Padres second baseman Ian Kinsler let Jean Segura’s popup drop. Kinsler threw to first to get Segura before McCutchen hurt himself attempting to evade a tag on his way back to the bag.
McCutchen has an MRI scheduled on Tuesday, but those results have not been disclosed as of yet.
The 32-year-old attempted to downplayed the severity of the injury shortly after suffering it.
“I didn’t feel it pop or anything,” McCutchen said. “Something felt uncomfortable, something that made me grab my knee and go down. I’ve had an ACL injury before and I know what that feels like. This didn’t feel like that.”
However, he did ask fans to pray for him on Twitter later that night.
McCutchen was batting .256 with 10 home runs and 29 RBI this season as he’s started games in center and left field.
The Phillies called up 23-year-old center fielder Adam Haseley — the eighth-overall pick in last year’s draft — for the time being. Haseley was recently called up to triple-A Lehigh Valley where he’s batting .320 with four RBI in six games. He batted .268 with seven home runs and 19 RBI in 41 games with double-A Reading before his promotion.
Haseley will provide depth in center field with Scott Kingery and Sean Rodriguez while Bruce could be the predominant starter in left field.
Bruce was acquired from the Seattle Mariners on Sunday morning to add another power bat to the mix while giving up minor-league infielder Jake Scheiner.
While it was initially looked at as an insurance move, the transaction received plenty of backlash considering the Phillies also need bullpen help and starting-pitching depth.
It didn’t take long for the move to be validated, however, as McCutchen could be out for a bit.
Bruce’s left-handed pop could prove to be a sizable pickup for the Phillies. He has already hit 14 home runs in the much more expansive T-Mobile Park in Seattle. Now he’ll have a chance to bolster down the starting job with the Phillies as they look to keep their lead in the NL East.
