Andrew McCutchen has not been all that great for the Pirates in the early part of 2012. He got off to a hot start, but that hot start was mainly due to hitting a ton of singles and he didn’t give the punchless early-season Pirates much pop. Starting on April 20th, he fell into a funk that ended with him missing time due to a pretty bad bout with the flu. Between the 20th and May 5th, he hit .204/.259/.327.
Last night, he came back from the flu and had the sort of night that the Andrew McCutchen of 2011 would’ve had; he hit a home run and drew two walks. After that, his season line stands at .302/.370/.417. Without showing much power at all before last night, with a 15-day slump and a bout with the flu, Andrew McCutchen’s wOBA is now at .347 on the season.
I said this around this time last year and I’m going to say it again today: Andrew McCutchen is about to break out in a big way. He’s over his flu and his home run last night was an absolute bomb. I’ve got a feeling that by the end of May the “Andrew McCutchen is one of the NL’s best players, why is he 11th in All-Star voting” train will be running full speed ahead for the second year in a row.
