Pirates news and professional analysis
Andrew McCutchen made it easier for Neil Huntington to trade him and harder for Bob Nutting to pay him.
Back on May 23rd when McCutchen’s batting average had dropped to .200, Huntington the General Manager couldn’t have been getting very many good offers for him and Bob Nutting the owner had to be wondering why he was paying him $14 million a year.
Are the Pirates looking to trade their two biggest name players on the team?
The answer to that is no one aside from Neal Huntington and certain members of the front office really know if Andrew McCutchen and Gerrit Cole can be had in a trade. Fans and media can speculate but that’s all it really is.
Since the end of last season, the number one topic surrounding the Pirates organization has been will Andrew McCutchen be traded.
The much talked about trade discussions between the Pirates and Washington didn’t result in McCutchen being dealt. However, most people still feel it’s only a matter of time until that happens.
Keep in mind these grades are based on a curve of their expectations for the year. Chris Stewart wasn’t going to be an All-Star, so it won’t be fair to judge him the same as Andrew McCutchen.
Josh Harrison: His glove is as good as ever and his versatility has been a lifesaver. He’s also contributing a lot more offensively now that he’s healthy. His ,369 OBP has been aided by a league high 18 HBPs, but he is chasing out of the zone less and has 21 walks- one away from his career high in 2014.
Here are some news and notes plus some random thoughts on things currently going on with the Pirates.
**This morning while speaking to the media, Clint Hurdle announced that when he returns from his suspension, Starling Marte would be playing left field and Andrew McCutchen would remain in center field. I disagree with this decision and here’s why. At the start of the season, Pirates management determined that it would best for the team if Marte was the center fielder and McCutchen in right field. What’s changed? Seems to me that this decision is a reaction and a punishment to Marte for the 80-game suspension. By doing this, the organization is punishing the entire team not just Marte. Bad move.
Although it won’t be with the Pirates, Starling Marte will make his return to the baseball field tomorrow.
This evening, the team announced that Marte will begin a rehab assignment with Class A Bradenton.
Marte received an 80-game suspension from Major League Baseball in April after testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug. Marte will have a 15 game rehab assignment before being eligible to return to the Pirates on July 18th.
UPDATE (3:31 PM)-
**Congragulations to the McCutchen family on Baby Cutch!! Pretty powerful video here
My World pic.twitter.com/eJC3AHux6E
— andrew mccutchen (@TheCUTCH22) June 30, 2017
UPDATE (1:18 PM)-
Looks like Jordan Luplow is being promoted to Triple-A @indyindians. He has 16 HRs for the Curve. #Pirates https://t.co/L15j4mZZZw
Despite having a ton of things go against them, we’re a day away from the start of July and the Pirates are still in contention for the NL Central Division.
Yes, Clint Hurdle’s team is still five games under .500 (37-42) but because of how mediocre the NL Central is this year, the Pirates are just four games behind the first-place Milwaukee Brewers. Despite their current position in the standings, the Cubs are the team to beat in the division and the Pirates are only 3 games behind them.
Is Andrew McCutchen next?
Local sports fans just gave Marc-Andre Fleury a long good-bye when he and about half a million of them exchanged waves during the Stanley Cup parade.
His good-bye piece in the Player’s Tribune put a nice finishing touch on it and showed why he was so popular. It’s hard to remember any star in any Pittsburgh sport getting a better send-off or having been more deserving.
In a way, he was due. I wrote for Fangraphs on May 15th that his batted ball in play average (BABIP) was far too low (.221 at the time). Fangraphs’ editor Dave Cameron wrote about his hot streak this past week, again citing a much higher BABIP average (.356). The league average is usually around .300. Entering play Friday, McCutchen was at .284, so he has almost caught up to even ground.