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Pirates' Andrew McCutchen is unable to catch a ball hit by Cardinals shortstop Jhonny Peralta during the seventh inning Sunday at Busch Stadium in  St. Louis.
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McCutchen admits frustration, but Pirates center fielder believes breakout coming

Jeff Curry/USA TODAY Sports

McCutchen admits frustration, but Pirates center fielder believes breakout coming

Andrew McCutchen believes he is close. He thinks the game, or at-bat, when he connects what he is seeing with what his body is doing is near. But, for a player like McCutchen, close isn’t good enough.

“I’m here for a reason,” McCutchen said after the Tuesday night game against the Cincinnati Reds. “I’m getting paid what I’m getting paid because of the way that I should be playing ball, but right now … I’m not doing what I should be doing for the money that I’m making right now.”

McCutchen was batting .185 entering the Wednesday night  game. He had a .280 on-base percentage, a .293 slugging percentage, two home runs and two doubles. The former MVP, and three-time top-three finisher in the voting, is not himself.

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“I know it’s right there. I can feel it,” he said. “At the same time, I also feel a little off, too. It’s just trying to get myself back on track.”

McCutchen has taken extra batting practice in an effort to find his swing, but manager Clint Hurdle said McCutchen also has reduced his workload on certain days.

“I think he might be tired of people trying to come up with reasons why he’s not performing and maybe trying to clear the air around that,” Hurdle said Wednesday. “The best way to do it will be for him to get his swing off, get his swing connected and start making those things happen. Until then, it’s kind of like another stress ball that we can grab. Two weeks ago, [Jung Ho] Kang, what was he doing here, now it's Andrew.”

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McCutchen said he did not think the soreness in his left knee that has persisted in some form since spring training was affecting his performance.

“I can’t sit here and say my knee is the reason or something like that,” McCutchen said. “I don’t believe so. I just believe that I’m just a little off, and that’s all that it is. Just getting myself back there because I’m sick and tired of going oh for freaking four.”

McCutchen has stayed in the lineup despite the knee pain, which has caused him to conserve energy running to first base on routine outs. He said he did not want to rest and let whatever is wrong with his knee improve because he did not want to disrupt his rhythm.

“I don’t like days off,” he said. “I don’t like the day off we had [Monday] because I’m getting myself in a good position, then have a day off.”

Manager Clint Hurdle argues an interference call on Gregory Polanco with home plate umpire Chris Conroy in the seventh inning Wednesday night at PNC Park. The call was the third out of the inning and cost the Pirates at least one run.
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The knee issue caused McCutchen to miss several spring training games, which he acknowledged could have affected the way he started the season, but he would not blame his struggles on missed time.

“The matter center fielder fact is, I’m not performing and I need to get out there and get myself doing the things that I know I can do,” he said. “I’m ready to get myself back because it ain’t fun making right turns, especially when you’re used to making left ones.”

Bill Brink: bbrink@post-gazette.com and Twitter @BrinkPG.

First Published: May 7, 2015, 4:00 a.m.

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Pirates' Andrew McCutchen is unable to catch a ball hit by Cardinals shortstop Jhonny Peralta during the seventh inning Sunday at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.  (Jeff Curry/USA TODAY Sports)
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