The marriage between Andrew McCutchen and the Pirates was happy and mutually beneficial for years. Now it’s time for the Pirates to file divorce papers and move on.
There’s simply no salvaging this relationship; it has finally reached the point of irreconcilable differences.
McCutchen was once one of the best players in baseball. He was the face of the Pirates and the central figure of the organization’s rise out of the ashes of a 20-year losing slump. He’s a former MVP and five-time All-Star but no longer anything close to that. Just look at the analytics of just how far he has fallen in two years.
The Pirates clearly have no idea how to properly handle McCutchen. They’re in that awkward place with an aging/fading superstar — they want to be respectful of him and what he has meant to the club but also need to win.
Tuesday night’s 8-4 loss was yet another example of how awkward this situation is and how miserable it could become. McCutchen is hitting .206 and has as many strikeouts as he does hits (29). That’s why Clint Hurdle did what would have been unthinkable a few years ago and double-switched him out of the game heading into the eighth inning. The outfield for the final two innings was Jose Osuna, Adam Frazier and John Jaso.
Osuna pinch hit in the seventh, and McCutchen struck out to end the inning. Thus, Osuna’s spot in the order was due up before McCutchen. That’s why Hurdle left Osuna in and put reliever Wade LeBlanc in McCutchen’s spot. That’s a standard move but not one generally done with a player of McCutchen’s stature. The unwritten rules are a little different for those players, and managers generally leave them in the lineup no matter what.
Hurdle did the right thing in this case, regardless of what the code is for a star player. The Pirates need to win games and don’t have the luxury of worrying about whose feelings they hurt.
Hurdle needs to take the next step and move McCutchen out of the No. 3 spot in the order. He is no longer the player he once was. It’s one thing for a player to slump, but this is more than a slump. He is hitting .246 in 739 at-bats since the beginning of last season and has almost as many strikeouts (172) as he does hits (182). He still does have some power (30 home runs over the past two seasons) but it isn’t enough to offset his low batting average and high number of strikeouts.
The Pirates and their fans owe McCutchen gratitude; he’s been a great ambassador for the city. At the height of his career, he was capable of carrying the team on his back. That’s all in the past, and he’s no longer the best hitter on the team and no longer strikes fear in opposing pitchers. Hurdle needs to drop him in the lineup for the good of the team, and then the Pirates need to trade him.
First Published: May 17, 2017, 3:17 p.m.
