Thoughts on Andrew McCutchen

Over the last few years Andrew McCutchen has been one of the best players in baseball. In the last 3 years he has finished in the top 3 in NL MVP voting, willing the award in 2013.

And while it is clear that he is one of the best in baseball, I'm having a hard time figuring him out. He's really good at basically everything, but does not stand out in any specific area. He has power, but it's unlikely he'll ever hit 40 homers. He steals bases, but is not someone who will ever lead the league in this area.

When looking at comps on baseball reference, you see a few HOFers, but guys like Andre Dawson, Billie Williams and Dave Winfield mentioned. All were great players, and it's still very early in McCutchen's career, but none of them played at the level that Cutch has played for the last few years. They all fall short in batting average, OBP and steals.

I feel like Mike Trout has stolen a spotlight that otherwise might have shown on McCutchen because Trout has been a somewhat similar player, but even more dynamic. That said, I think that McCutchen has a chance to wind up as one of the more unique and productive players in a long time.

Thoughts?

I agree. Plus that hair!!

Can't ever list that pony tail along with the all- time greats. You'd need to play for the Yankees to get any respect with that hair

Great Player indeed. The Hobby would love him a lot more if he were Caucasian

I agree with ThoseBackPages about his skin color, unfortunately, that probably does affect the hobby love. Kids love him though. I recall that at the Little League World Series, I think over 50 percent of the kids listed Cutch as their favorite MLBer, for whatever that is worth. He's got that sweet hair and a seemingly winning personality to go with the skills. I would love to see him help bring a pennant to Pittsburgh (only because the Rockies don't have a shot in the next few years).

these are baseballs he hit as fouls or HR 's when playing low "A" .

ThoseBackPages said:

Great Player indeed. The Hobby would love him a lot more if he were Caucasian

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I'm intrigued by this. Other than Trout, who would you say are the most popular current MLB (not prospect, not retired) players in the hobby?

This question is for anyone, not just TBP.

ThoseBackPages said:

Great Player indeed. The Hobby would love him a lot more if he were Caucasian

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The most popular baseball player of my lifetime was Ken Griffey Jr., who was not Caucasian. During his peak, Barry Bonds was incredibly popular, despite being black, and perceived as arrogant, aloof and just an overall jerk. Arod is Hispanic and was loved. Today Bonds and Arod have been vilified, but no more than Clemens who is white, and they all share the fact that they were "all-time greats" who used steroids and denied it. (You can throw Palmeiro into the mix.) And this does not begin to get into the big stars in other sports. Thankfully the world of sports has been a leader in this area. You've mentioned this idea many times, but I don't see the evidence to support it.

Maybe for McCutchen instead it's the fact he plays in Pittsburgh, has never been a postseason hero or won a World Series and does not stand out for a particular stat. It is unlikely he will ever get close to 500 home runs. He may never approach 3000 hits because he walks a lot and that takes away maybe 10-20 hits a season compared to a player who You will note that all the HOFers he has had a similar career to are player who walks less.

gmarutiak said:

I'm intrigued by this. Other than Trout, who would you say are the most popular current MLB (not prospect, not retired) players in the hobby?

This question is for anyone, not just TBP.

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Bryce Harper / he can do no wrong

When Willie Mays and Hank Aaron begin to even APPROACH the "value" of Mickey Mantle, then we can talk about how the hobby is not biased based on skin color.

Until then you can offer all the outliners you desire, but i am not buying it.

More to do with hype than race, IMO.

Buxton enjoyed the same hype until the injuries. Had buxton been called up at the end of last year and then went on to put up mvp stats in 2015, he'd be in the same boat.

Im not sure what the deal is with cutch. The dude is great, but he didnt arrive with the same hype, age, hometown, etc. Trout is kind of a perfect storm.

Young, talent met the hype, put up stats in his first 2 years that have rarely been seen. I also think many thought or think he will play near his home town someday, which helped some too.

It took cutch til his 4th year to put it all together. And as great as he is, he has driven in over 90's runs, once.

I think with trout its more to do with his age and doing what he is doing than just being white.

ThoseBackPages said:

When Willie Mays and Hank Aaron begin to even APPROACH the "value" of Mickey Mantle, then we can talk about how the hobby is not biased based on skin color.

Until then you can offer all the outliners you desire, but i am not buying it.

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I'm not gonna say racism is dead but that was clearly a different era. Again the New York factor can not be understated IMO. When talking race however, mention should be made about baseball's popularity in the African American community. Pujols values over his career have been just fine

Over............rated.

It's a joke that he won the MVP.

He will NEVER win a World Series with the Pirates.

He's the best player on a mid-level team who overachieved one season. Big deal. Him and Lucroy are in the same boat. Still not as good as St. Louis

Brewer Andy said:

I'm not gonna say racism is dead but that was clearly a different era. Again the New York factor can not be understated IMO. When talking race however, mention should be made about baseball's popularity in the African American community. Pujols values over his career have been just fine

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Then why is the hobby so slow to correct it? Remember i am talking about the card hobby, not the sport

Plays like Dave Winfield.

Looks like Whoopi Goldberg

Cutch's biggest problem is that he plays in Pittsburgh.

ThoseBackPages said:

Then why is the hobby so slow to correct it? Remember i am talking about the card hobby, not the sport

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Who knows. Collecting vintage requires quite a bit of disposable income (ie being a grown up with a job) and we grew up being told how great Mickey Mantle was by all kinds of media. That said, I don't want to imply race is not a factor at all. Hell I'm pretty sure the collecting population is even whiter than the overall fan population.

ThoseBackPages said:

Then why is the hobby so slow to correct it? Remember i am talking about the card hobby, not the sport

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It is unlikely the hobby will ever "correct" this (whether this is something that there is reason to "correct" is IMO debatable) because people collect their favorite players and for people growing up in that era it was Mantle (whose story was legendary, played on the Yankees etc.) who was the biggest name. For older collectors they are not going to switch now, and for younger collectors, they will most likely collect the player who their parents revered and spoke about as they were growing up.

What we see over the last couple of decades is a hobby that is happy to fully embrace players of any ethnicity or color.

To me Cutch is equal to Marquis Grissom who was very good and was a star but played in Montreal most of his career. Cutch will never steal as may bases as him either.

JEBJJA said:

To me Cutch is equal to Marquis Grissom who was very good and was a star but played in Montreal most of his career. Cutch will never steal as may bases as him either.

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Huh?

McCutchen is a much better Overall player and the unquestioned best player on his own team. Grissom was never that guy and didn't have nearly as much Power as McCutchen does. As for McCutch, being in Pittsburgh has hurt his appreciation and therefore values.

As far as his race affecting his cards, I don't buy it. Yes, Mantle's fans were probably affected, and not even aware of it, by his race but those days are over IMO. Being a Yankee probably helped his standing with fans more than his race anyway. Players like Kubek, Berra, Bernie and Jeter probably were more beloved for their being part of hugely successful teams than for their own Merits. In the last 30 years, their race hasn't affected fans' love of Griffey, Thomas or Gwynn. And people don't dislike Bonds, Puig or Rickey for their race, but for their perceived Attitudes.