Roster Watch: Andrew McCutchen

There is no way Andrew McCutchen is going to make this team.

He is a dastardly man.  A man with no regards for his opponents and a man who plays well outside the bounds of common decency.

Just look at him!  He is setting up poor Carlos Lee for the Dudley Death Drop.

GET THE TABLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That said, what a season from the young one.  An MVP caliber season on a different team.

Though the Pirates are turning into a kind of darling.  Someone that the country at large would probably end up rallying around if they were to ever make the freaking playoffs.

And what proof do I have of such things?  Well Andrew McCutchen managed to become the very first Pittsburgh Pirate to grace the cover of an MLB video game.

That’s right, he’ll be the coverboy of MLB 13 the show on Playstation 3.

So if you haven’t already go buy a PS3 to play this one game.  Totally reasonable investment, even in this economy.  Afterall, you want to support Cutch and the Pirates don’t you?

On top of that he won the Dapper Dan award last night, completely shattering the myth I attempted to create above.

Okay so back to the important things.  Cutch will make the team.  Surprised?  Me either.  He also will be the teams starting Centerfielder.  I know there will be cries for the unproven Starling Marte but knock it off.  Cutch isn’t being moved yet.  It’s just not going to happen.  He won a Gold Glove,  Silver Slugger, was an All Star and got MVP votes.   Accept it, move on.

Last year Cutch was what we professionals like to call a pimp.

Studly no?

What people tend to take for granted in regards to Cutch is his health.  Guy has been a workhorse for the Pirates.  His overall numbers last year were way more than we are used to with Cutch.

The downside was that he was a different player in the second half.

People like to say Cutch disappeared in the second half but that’s probably not accurate.  More likely he reappeared.  Consider his .860 second half OPS is still better than his career numbers and I think you’ll find that maybe, just maybe the first half of last year was him playing above his head.

It’s likely the main reason the Pirates were so good in the first half.  When Cutch stopped being Superman it exposed some more problems.  The bullpen still probably cost this team a .500 record, but Cutch coming back down to earth was an absolute killed.

So will Cutch be 1.039 Cutch or .860 Cutch?  It’s hard to say, but I’d put my money on him being somewhere in between.  The lineup should be a bit better with Marte coming into his own.  He’ll bat a few spots ahead of Cutch, but just having a guy like Marte on base might increase the likelihood of Cutch seeing a good pitch.   I think there is some fallacy when people look at lineup construction and only look on either side of a player.  This would be true if there was only one or two outs an inning, but since there are more you have to look deeper into the lineup.  Marte will help Cutch, even two spots ahead of him.

The absolute key for Cutch is Pedro Alvarez.  Can Pedro hit on a consistent basis and take over the cleanup spot?  If he can, expect better than an .860 OPS from Cutch.

Roster Watch:  Pedro Alvarez

Roster Watch:  Rod Barajas

Roster Watch:  Clint Barmes

Roster Watch:  A.J. Burnett

Roster Watch:  Jeff Clement

Roster Watch:  Kevin Correia

Roster Watch:  Chase d’Arnaud

Roster Watch:  Eric Fryer

Roster Watch:  Jason Grilli

Roster Watch:  Matt Hague

Roster Watch:  Joel Hanrahan and Brock Holt

Roster Watch:  Josh Harrison

Roster Watch:  Jared Hughes

Roster Watch:  Garrett Jones

Roster Watch: Jeff Karstens

Roster Watch: Chris Leroux

Roster Watch:  A Litany of Relievers

Roster Watch:  Jeff Locke

Roster Watch: Starling Marte