Pittsburgh Pirates: The Rise and Fall of Andrew McCutchen
By Matt Weyrich
Pittsburgh Pirates center fielder Andrew McCutchen has struggled mightily at the plate this season. What’s been behind the former MVP’s prolonged slump?
The Pirates drafted Andrew McCutchen eleventh overall in 2005 amateur draft, sandwiched between the Tigers’ selection of Cameron Maybin and Jay Bruce, who went to Cincinnati. He broke into the Majors four years later, instantly cementing himself as an every day player. From 2009 through last season, McCutchen posted an .884 OPS on his way to five All-Star selections, four Silver Sluggers, a Gold Glove, and a National League MVP Award to boot.
On the fast track to Cooperstown, McCutchen entered the 2016 campaign looking finish in the top-5 in MVP voting for the fifth consecutive season. After reaching base in 13 of his first 14 games to start the season, the most consistent hitter in the National League saw the biggest drop off in production of his career. Through 98 games played in 2016, McCutchen is hitting a mere .240.
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Earlier this week, manager Clint Hurdle gave his struggling star their series in Atlanta off. The skipper hoped the short stint on the bench would help McCutchen hit the refresh button and find his groove. The immediate results, an 0-for-2 day with a pair of walks, weren’t very encouraging, but McCutchen doesn’t think the book on him has been written just yet.
"“No time to hit the panic button,” he said. “I’m still me. Nothing has changed. Just because I’m hitting .240 doesn’t mean I’m not Andrew McCutchen. That’s what people need to remember.” (h/t Stephen J. Nesbitt, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)"
Andrew McCutchen or not, the center fielder has been totally lost at the plate. According to the data from Brooks Baseball, McCutchen’s swing-and-miss percentage has increased for every single type of pitch thrown his way. The most drastic of these changes has been against the cutter, which has spiked from 8.5% to a whopping 14.2%. Pitchers haven’t been changing their approach against him, throwing breaking balls, fastballs, and offspeed pitches all around his career norm.
McCutchen is struggling to make good contact all over the plate, recording a batting average of .250 or lower in four of the nine defined areas of the strike zone. He’s swinging at more pitches than he ever has in his career (48.5% percent in 2016 compared to 43.3% career), but is missing them at an alarming rate (career-high 11.8 swinging strike percentage). Some have pointed to his new spot in the batting order as the biggest problem, while others claim his change in approach has derailed his ability to make hard contact.
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Regardless of whatever is holding the 29-year old back, his downfall has been the biggest factor that has led to Pittsburgh’s disappointing 54-53 record. One might think a player with his kind of skillset should settle into a rhythm sometime soon, but this just might be the Andrew McCutchen that we have to get used to.