Wednesday, February 26, 2025, 1:43AM |  44°
MENU
Advertisement
Andrew McCutchen doubles against the Mariners at PNC Park.
1
MORE

McCutchen to sit for remainder of Pirates series against Braves

Peter Diana/Post-Gazette

McCutchen to sit for remainder of Pirates series against Braves

ATLANTA — Hopeful that time out of the lineup will help Andrew McCutchen, manager Clint Hurdle is sitting him for the remainder of the series against the Braves.

Including Monday’s day off, that will give McCutchen four days off in a row. 

Could it help?

Advertisement

“They seem to think so,” McCutchen said. “I don’t know. We’ll see.”

Pirates center fielder Andrew McCutchen can't get a ball that went for a double by the Nationals' Stephen Drew during the second inning July 16.
Stephen J. Nesbitt
Andrew McCutchen returns to Pirates lineup: 'No time to hit the panic button. I'm still me.'

McCutchen is hitting .241 with a .311 on-base percentage and a .408 slugging percentage. His 24.8 percent strikeout rate ranks 133rd out of 157 qualified batters in Major League Baseball. His OPS+ — a statistic that normalizes for league and park effects, with 100 being league average — has never been lower than 121 in his first seven years in the majors, or 21 percent better than average. This year it’s 89, or 11 percent below average.

“We sometimes get spoiled with it,” said McCutchen, the 2013 MVP and a five-time All-Star. “When you have the year that you’ve had, the years that I have had, it can sometimes spoil people because I can actually be average. … I’m not hitting how I normally have hit in the past four or five years. I know what I’m capable of doing. I’m not accepting where I’m at, I’m still going to keep working. I haven’t given up on myself, that’s not in my DNA.”

He said he would prefer to be in the lineup.

Advertisement

“I wouldn’t be taking days off,” he said. “Not something I prefer for myself, but I know there’s other people who can step up and pick up the slack and get the job done.”

Starling Marte is playing center field, with Matt Joyce starting in left.

“[McCutchen] and I had a nice conversation, an engaging conversation, after the game [Sunday] in Milwaukee,” Hurdle said. “He’s tried a lot of things. This man’s fought and shown up and done early work, late work, side work, video work. I just encouraged him, in some situations like this, what I’ve seen happen with good players, you just unplug them.

“The manager’s got to do it. I’m just asking you to sign off on it.”

Andrew McCutchen knows he is having a tough year but he doesn’t believe his is “struggling.”
Stephen J. Nesbitt
McCutchen challenges notion he’s ‘struggling’

Hurdle would not say one way or the other whether McCutchen would return to the No. 3 spot Friday against the Reds at home.

“Let’s try this because we have tried just about everything else,” Hurdle said

“The easiest thing in my job is to put McCutchen in this lineup. So I’m willing to make a sacrifice. I need you to make one with me for the betterment of this thing moving forward.”

First Published: August 3, 2016, 9:51 p.m.

RELATED
Matt Joyce hits a first inning three-run home run against the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field.
Bill Brink
Locke struggles, offense flops in loss to Braves
Ivan Nova, acquired by the Pirates from the Yankees at Monday's trade deadline, will start for his new team Saturday at PNC Park.
Bill Brink
Pirates notebook: Ivan Nova to make Pirates debut Saturday
Francisco Cervelli is tended to by a member of the training staff after being hit by a pitch from Atlanta Braves starter Mike Foltynewicz in the fifth inning Tuesday in Atlanta.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Michael Sanserino's all-sports chat transcript: 8.3.16
SHOW COMMENTS (0)  
Join the Conversation
Commenting policy | How to Report Abuse
If you would like your comment to be considered for a published letter to the editor, please send it to letters@post-gazette.com. Letters must be under 250 words and may be edited for length and clarity.
Partners
Advertisement
The two Franks worked with pizza legends Chris Bianco and Chad Robertson to perfect their craft.
1
life
A beloved pizzeria is expanding beyond Brooklyn. First stop, Mt. Lebanon.
Students at Penn State Fayette, the Eberly Campus in Lemont Furnace, walk to class on Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025.
2
news
Penn State to close some commonwealth campuses, President Bendapudi announces
Shoppers walk down Walnut St. near Filbert St. in Shadyside on April 9, 2024. Banana Republic, whose presence in the neighborhood dates back to at least 1995, will end its long run March 31, joining other longtime staples who have left the neighborhood.
3
business
After three decades, Banana Republic in Shadyside to close March 31
Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Jared Jones (37) delivers during the first inning of a spring training baseball game against the Atlanta Braves, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025, in Bradenton, Fla.
4
sports
3 takeaways as Pirates suffer 1st loss of spring training to Braves
Penn State president Neeli Bendapudi spoke during a dedication ceremony for the newly renamed Franco Harris Pittsburgh Center at Penn State, located in Uptown on Tuesday, Dec. 12, 2023.
5
news
Penn State Faculty Senate tables vote of no confidence in President Bendapudi
Andrew McCutchen doubles against the Mariners at PNC Park.  (Peter Diana/Post-Gazette)
Peter Diana/Post-Gazette
Advertisement
LATEST sports
Advertisement
TOP
Email a Story