Is this really all that surprising? Cubs are 16-10 in the second half and we are 13-12. Seems like the Cubs are the better team right now. Likely soon to be 17-10 and 13-13.
McCutchen has only played about 100 innings in center since 2017. However, I'd definitely start playing him there against RHP until he shows me that he is totally incapable of playing the position. Hard to believe it would be that bad that it wouldn't justify the upgrade to Hiura over Taylor/Davis. Frelick is a whole other discussion of course.
The Reds were bad and we dominated them. The Pirates had a winning record so they shouldn't be part of the conversation. The Brewers went 28-11 against the 4 worst teams in the NL. So once again, it does happen. Quite regularly.
For the record, I also don't think they will non-tender him because they will look like idiots. However, I still think it might be the smart move to do so considering what he's going to get in arbitration.
How dare the Padres bring in Josh in the middle of an inning. Don't they know he doesn't approve of that? At this point the Padres would probably be wise to non-tender him.
When half the teams broke their franchise records for homers in 2019, you cannot tell me that the ball was the same as the 2015, 2016, 2017 or any other year that came before it.
I do think the ball is an underrated reason for his decline in homeruns. There were rumors that the switch in baseballs came after the All-Star break in 2018. Yelich really wasn't anything that special in the first half of the year but he went through the roof in the second half and carried it over into 2019. I personally throw out all homer stats that came from 2019. Kind of like the 1987 season. It's hard for me to look at either of those years as being real.
I agree it's time to try something. It's probably more likely than not that the impact is completely negligible but you never know. Michael Harris for Atlanta has more than held his own this year which I don't think was necessarily expected.