Is Andrew McCutchen ready for a big rebound?
Still a Pirate, ex-MVP aims to bounce back
Andrew McCutchen tries to pretend it’s really no big deal, but it is.
He tries to act as if it doesn’t bother him, but it attacks his pride.
McCutchen, playing in an exhibition game last week for Team USA ahead of the World Baseball Classic, might have been only 89 miles away from the Pittsburgh Pirates spring training home in Bradenton, Fla., but it felt as if he was in another universe.
Here, it didn’t matter that he opened the USA’s exhibition schedule against the Minnesota Twins batting eighth for the first time in his life.
Here, it made no difference that he was playing left field for the first time while Adam Jones of the Baltimore Orioles was in center, where McCutchen has played more games than any other player in baseball since 2010.
Here, among the greatest American players, there was a sense of not only feeling wanted but actually being cherished, by a team that will stay together no longer than two weeks.
Yet the team that drafted him 12 years ago, leaned on him through all of its troubled times and marketed him as its shining future, now can’t wait to get rid of him.
The Pirates, who tried to trade him all offseason and still have him on the trade block, have informed McCutchen, 30, he no longer will be their center fielder. Despite playing 1,063 games in center since 2010, he will be their new right fielder, a position he has played professionally for five innings at Class AA Altoona (Pa.).
If someone calls the Pirates with an enticing trade proposal, he’s aware he could even be dealt while away representing his country in the WBC.
“It hurts. Of course, it hurts,” McCutchen told USA TODAY Sports. “It stings. I’m not to the point of being upset and mad about it, but I’m not smiling about it. And I’m not walking around saying everything’s great, either.
“But what can I do? I’m not the GM. I’m not the manager. I’m not the owner. I’m just a baseball player. When they make a decision, and it’s final, I have to agree with that. What choice do I have?”
Well, if McCutchen really wanted to, he could rebel. He could ask to be traded. He could be such a malcontent and disruptive force in the clubhouse, the Pirates would have no choice but to move him.
Sorry, that’s just not McCutchen. It was never an option. Sure, he privately voiced his complaints. He emphatically told front office members he can still play center field. He told them their analytic studies were skewed because they had him playing too shallow.
It didn’t matter. The entire outfield was changed. Starling Marte is the new center fielder. McCutchen is the new right field- er. And Gregory Polanco is in left field.
“I’m not going to hold any grudges against them,” says McCutchen, a five-time All-Star. “I mean, I have people who say it should be my choice because of the sacrifices I’ve made and the things I’ve done for the organization. But I’m not going to be angry.
“I’m just going to go out and play my game, because that’s my job. I work for them. They are my bosses. They ask me to do something, it means I have to do it.”
McCutchen says he deserves to stay in center, but management told him the Pirates will be a better team with Marte in center field. They showed the analytic charts to McCutchen, the ones that showed he was the worst defensive outfielder in baseball, according to Baseball Info Solutions. McCutchen tells them the data are flawed because the Pirates had him playing too shallow.
“Anyone can easily type in some numbers and say, ‘Hey, he’s not a good defender,’ ” McCutchen says. “There are baseball guys who actually know the game. They watch the game and say, “No, this guy can still play.’
“I felt I played some of the better defense in my career last year, with the exception of playing in. If you play in, you’re going to have to pay those consequences. When you’re playing somewhere you’re not comfortable, sometimes the ball is going to get by you or go over your head.”
Yes, even 10-time Gold Glove winner Andruw Jones, who notoriously played shallow with the Atlanta Braves, sometimes made mistakes with his aggressiveness.
“Yeah,” McCutchen said, softly laughing, “but they didn’t have all of those analytics back then.”
It doesn’t really matter what anyone else thinks, McCutchen says, or what they say. He has no choice in this matter. He wasn’t going to change their opinion, anyway, so he begrudgingly agreed, saying it will be an honor playing the same position as legendary Pirates right fielder Roberto Clemente.
McCutchen’s imprint on Pittsburgh is significant. He signed an undervalued six-year, $51.5 million deal four years ago, won one MVP award and finished in the top five four consecutive years and ushered the club out of a 20-year run of losing seasons.
“He’s been the face of that franchise for so long, not just for being a great player, but great for the community,” says Team USA manager Jim Leyland, who led the Pirates to three division titles and makes his home in Pittsburgh. “He’s so well-respected there. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I would love to see him stay there his whole career because of what he means to that club.”
McCutchen has been with his WBC teammates for a few days, but already he’s revered.
“He’s one of the players I’ve obviously admired from afar,” says the Orioles’ Jones, tied with McCutchen for the most hits by a center fielder since 2010. “But to see him up close, to see him go about his business, to see that work ethic is just so impressive. You see why he’s so great.”
McCutchen, the subject of intense trade talks with the Washington Nationals this offseason before they acquired Adam Eaton from the Chicago White Sox, will be heavily scouted during the WBC. Scouts following him now tell you that while he might not be the same player who won the Gold Glove in 2012, he’s a much better outfielder than defensive metrics indicate.
So you can believe the analytical studies that indicate McCutchen’s best days are behind him, and that his career-low .256 batting average, .766 on-base plus slugging percentage and six steals last season are ominous signs.
Or you can believe McCutchen, along with many in the scouting fraternity, that last season was a blip on a screen of greatness and he’s much too young and athletic for anyone to think he won’t bounce back.
“This is the generation and age we live in now,” McCutchen says. “It’s what have you done for me right now, not what you did the last five years. I had a 2016 season that wasn’t a year that Andrew McCutchen normally has, but it doesn’t mean I won’t go out there and be back to where I was. I’ll be back. And I’ll be even better.
“I’m going to have a monster year, whether it’s in Pittsburgh or somewhere else. It’s going to happen.”
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