The New York Yankees needed an outfielder before the August
31st trading deadline with the recent injuries to Didi Gregorius,
Aaron Judge and others and the outfielder they chose was former Pittsburgh
Pirates and San Francisco Giants player Andrew McCutchen. McCutchen brings a certain
veteran presence and swag to a young Yankees club in the midst of a pennant race
and is the perfect choice for this particular team in my opinion, so let’s meet
him. This is Meet a Prospect Special Edition for this off day, the Andrew
McCutchen Edition.
Andrew Stefan McCutchen was born on October 10, 1986 in Fort
Meade, Florida to Lorenzo McCutchen and Petrina Swan. Andrew’s father was a
start running back with the Carson-Newman University football tea, in Jefferson
City, Tennessee, but quickly gave up his dream to head to the NFL to be closer
to his son and to Andrew’s sister, Loren. Instead Lorenzo helped Andrew follow
his dream of being a professional baseball player and led Andrew to becoming
eligible to play varsity baseball as an eight grader at Fort Meade High School.
That season McCutchen hit .591 for the school’s team while also playing
football and running track. McCutchen was one of the top football recruits in
the state of Florida but ultimately decided to continue playing baseball, a
decision that led him to the University of Florida and eventually to the
Pittsburgh Pirates organization.
With the 11th overall pick in the 2005 MLB First
Year Players Draft the Pittsburgh Pirates selected Andrew McCutchen out of the
University of Florida, immediately assigning the center fielder to their minor
league affiliate. McCutchen spent four seasons in the Minor Leagues and was a
Top 50 prospect in all four seasons according to Baseball America including a #13
ranking before the 2007 season. On June 9, 2009 the Pirates called up McCutchen
to the big leagues after trading away starting center fielder Nate McLouth to
the Atlanta Braves. McCutchen made his MLB debut the very next day against the
New York Mets. McCutchen singled in his first at-bat off Mets starter Mike
Pelfrey and ended the day with two singles, one RBI, three runs scored and a stolen
base in a Pirates victory. McCutchen finished his rookie campaign with a .286
batting average, 12 home runs, 54 RBI and 22 stolen bases in 108 games,
finishing fourth in the National League Rookie of the Year Award voting.
McCutchen was back on the Pirates big league club on Opening
Day in 2010 and never looked back. While McCutchen had a strong 2010 campaign
he did not make his first All-Star Game appearance until the 2011 season,
replacing injured Ryan Braun of the Milwaukee Brewers. McCutchen was rewarded
for his strong 2011 campaign with a new six-year deal worth $51.5 million to
stay with the Pirates through his arbitration years that also came with a
$14.75 million club option for the 2018 season. McCutchen was also named to the
National League All-Star team for the second time in 2012 while also
representing the Pirates in the 2012 Home Run Derby, replacing Giancarlo
Stanton. McCutchen only hit four home runs and failed to make it out of the
first round of the derby that year, but overall had a great season for
Pittsburgh that resulted in a third-place finish in the National League MVP
Award vote.
McCutchen was the cover athlete for the Playstation game MLB
13: The Show before the 2013 season beating out Yankees starter CC Sabathia for
the honors. McCutchen also made another All-Star team in 2013 as a reserve for
the National League, his third straight season being honored in the mid-season
classic. 2013 also marked the first season that the Pittsburgh Pirates had a
winning season and clinched a playoff birth since Barry Bonds led the Pirates
to the postseason in 1992. The Pirates were eliminated by the St. Louis Cardinals
in five games that season, but McCutchen was named the NL’s Most Valuable
Player for the 2013 season after hitting .317 with 21 home runs, 84 RBI and
stealing 28 bases. McCutchen was the first Pirates MVP award winner since Bonds
won the award back in 1992. The Pirates were back in the postseason in 2014
behind another strong campaign from Andrew McCutchen, but this time the team
ran into Madison Bumgarner and the San Francisco Giants. Mad-Bum was able to
shut out the Pirates, thus ending McCutchen’s season after a fourth straight
All-Star Game appearance and a second consecutive trip to the postseason.
Another year in 2015 and another trip to the All-Star Game
for McCutchen and a third straight playoff appearance for the Pirates. In the
All-Star Game the Pirates center fielder hit a home run off then Tampa Bay Rays
starter Chris Archer to become only the fifth member of the Pirates to ever hit
a home run in an All-Star Game, joining a few familiar names in Ralph Kiner,
Willie Stargell, Roberto Clemente and Dave Parker. McCutchen also joined
Clemente in the hearts and minds of the Pirates fans in 2015 after being named
the winner of the Roberto Clemente Award, thus becoming the first Pirate to win
the honor since Willie Stargell in 1974. Unfortunately, the Pirates season
ended once again in the Wild Card round after a 4-0 loss to the Chicago Cubs
and Jake Arrieta. 2015 was a high for McCutchen, and 2016 began the decline for
the Pirates center fielder. McCutchen finished the 2016 campaign with a .256
batting average, his lowest-ever batting average at this point in his career,
and just 24 home runs.
McCutchen was dangled in trades after the 2016 season and
was reportedly almost dealt to the Washington Nationals before the 2017 season
before the deal fell through. McCutchen represented Team USA as a member of the
Pirates before the 2017 season and was a huge part of the team that won their
first ever World Baseball Classic gold medal for the United States. McCutchen
continued to decline in 2017 somewhat finishing the season with a .279/.363/.486
with 28 home runs in his final season with the Pirates. Before the 2018 season
the Pittsburgh Pirates sent McCutchen to the San Francisco Giants in a trade
for Kyle Crick, Bryan Reynolds and $500,000 of international bonus slot money.
McCutchen hoped to lead the revitalized Giants to the postseason as a right fielder,
but San Francisco quickly fell out of the playoff chase leading McCutchen to be
traded for the second time during the 2018 season, this time to the New York
Yankees.
On August 31 of this season the Yankees acquired McCutchen
from the Giants for infielder Abiatal Avelino and RHP Juan De Paula. McCutchen
shaved his beard to join the Yankees and changed his jersey number from 22, the
number he had worn throughout his entire career, to 26 since Jacoby Ellsbury
currently wears #26 for the Yankees. McCutchen is now playing right field for
the Yankees in the absence of the injured Aaron Judge and also appears to be
learning left field before the Yankees series with the Seattle Mariners starts
inside Safeco Field this weekend in Seattle.
Welcome to the organization, Andrew, and also a huge welcome
to the Yankees family from everyone here at The Greedy Pinstripes. Enjoy your
stay because you never know, we may be seeing you in 2019 as well. Stay well,
Cutch.
Thought this might be a good deal , however he has not produced like I thought he would and was hoping it would light a fire under Gardy.
ReplyDeleteLet us talk the Voit hype , so this guy has hit some homers ,that is it no doubles ,no triples just either a home run or a single.
I still think you gotta play Bird againts RH pitching.
When oh when is team going to figure out that a single with bases loaded works , not the glory of a home run but it works or a double by going with the pitch.
That A's and Red Sox are two of the best teams that go with the pitch and they are not trying yo crush every ball.
We have had a half dozen hitting coaches and still can't move runners over.
Bird hits left-handed pitching better than he does right-handed pitching, just an FYI for you, Rev.
DeleteHe's not a prospect. He's an established major league player.
ReplyDeleteNot produced? Really? You must have not seen his HR the other night. He just got here and he's hitting the long ball faster than Stanton did.
Light a fire under Gardy?? Gardy is one of the hardest working, give 110% effort players on the current team. You talk as if you just turn on a light switch to hit better because you want to.
Voit hype? Proof is in the pudding. I feel bad for Bird, but Voit produces. If you don't want homerun hitters then Cashman is to blame for that, as he signed them because they are homerun hitters. It's not the homerun hitter's fault that they only hit homeruns!
AGain, I realize he isn't a prospect. It is just something we have done on the blog since 2012. Meet a Prospect is for prospects, and the special editions are for established major leaguers... but we kept the name because we go back to when they were born, where they played high school and college ball, etc. all the way to the Majors.
Delete