Stardom Beckons For Andrew McCutchen

The country is just starting to clue into how special Andrew McCutchen may become for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He was kind of a who’s-he All-Star to many in 2011, but he is the full-fledged deal now as the Pirates show signs of stirring out of their 20-year slumber.

The Pirates, who have not made very many swift front office moves in the 19 straight years they have compiled losing records, made a very astute choice when they selected McCutchen in the first round of the draft with the 11th pick overall in 2005. It has been an arrow aiming up ever since.

McCutchen came out of Fort Meade, Florida and was intending to attend the University of Florida when the Pirates interrupted his plan. He hit .474 as a high school senior, one of the things that got him noticed. Though of course his raw talent superseded any high school numbers.

By 2009 McCuthen was in the majors and has been a work in progress since. That progress has been steady–he had a .286 lifetime average going into 2012–but he has taken off this year, along with the Pirates themselves. In his first 72 games of the season, McCutchen, who also runs down everything in the outfield, was batting .336 with a .391 on-base percentage.

Showing what kind of all-around player he is, McCutchen also had 14 home runs and 14 stolen bases. It’s really wrong to compare anyone who is a young player to Willie Mays, but McCutchen is displaying the five-tool skills that only the very best players possess.

All of this and McCutchen is still just 25, meaning he might get better. Long-suffering Pirates fans deserve a superstar to cheer for after their generation-long viewing of a losing team. Pittsburgh has a long and proud tradition and the fans who supported Honus Wagner, Pie Traynor, Roberto Clemente, and other greats, and have been rewarded by division titles, pennants and World Series crowns, even if they all seem long, long ago.

After setting the all-time professional team sports record for consecutive losing seasons the Pirates had a winning record for half of last year before folding. They are around five games to the good now, too, and trending upward. If not a team that can contend for the National League Central Division title (and they are hinting they have the goods to do so), at the least this edition of the Pirates is showing it can definitely record a winning record. Baby steps count after all this time.

Neither McCutchen (since he seems to be getting better by the minute) nor the Pirates, are finished products. Pittsburgh has been blessed with excellent pitching performances, including All-Star-caliber starts from A.J. Burnett, who looked washed up with the Yankees.

Offensively, the Pirates remain challenged top to bottom in the order and this is where McCutchen comes in. Pittsburgh will go only as far as he carries the team. Even the best pitching must be complemented by runs.