Andrew McCutcheon is going to bounce back this year



… his last as a Pirate 

The man who became the symbol of the resurgence of the Pittsburgh Pirates has one more year left with the team. Andrew McCutcheon is back again after being used as trade-bait by the Pirates in the offseason.

That was because he had a poor year in 2016, but he could bounce back from that despite all of the naysayers.

Cutch wrote in February in a "Dear Pittsburgh" letter that he was dreading the phone call that told him that he was being traded to another team.

"All I knew was that I wanted to keep playing in Pittsburgh. I wanted to finish what I had started here. I knew that I hadn’t played up to my capability last season, and that I had to use this off-season to get better. And I wasn’t going to let rumors distract me from doing that. I wasn’t going to get caught up in all the noise. As far as I’m concerned, until that phone rings and I’m told otherwise, I’m a Pittsburgh Pirate for life," he wrote on theplayerstribune.com.

Slipped in 2016

His 2016 season was dismal. After compiling batting averages of .327, .317, and .314 in 2012, 2013, and 2014, he slipped to .292 in 2015 and a dismal .256 last year.

His on-base percentage fell from .410 in 2014 to .336 last year. He had 24 home runs and 89 RBIs last year, which was not terrible, but overall, his play slumped.

That does not mean that his career has ended. Many players bounce back after bad seasons.

The infamous trade never happened

That is what led the Pirates' woeful owner and GM to try and trade him over the winter. For whatever reason, a promising deal with the Washington Nationals fell through.

Of course, if you have seen any of the Pirates' woeful trades lately -- Neil Walker for Jon Niese, Francisco Liriano for now minor leaguer Drew Hutchison, Pedro Alvarez for nothing, or Mark Melancon for Felipe Rivero -- you should not be optimistic that the trade would have yielded tremendous dividends.

The optimism that the Bucs had a few years ago has dissipated, but they still have talent. Another good year from Cutch could bring back some of that hope for a post-season berth.

Remembering 2013

In his letter to Pittsburgh, Cutch recalled what it was like to finally ignite the city about baseball again. "And slowly, you could see things starting to turn. We went from the team you played your backups against to the team nobody wanted to play. Instead of going into games hoping we didn’t lose, we went into them expecting to win. You could just feel that something was happening. And then in 2013, when we finally reached the postseason for the first time in 21 years and we had that wild-card game at home in Pittsburgh, that’s when you knew something was happening."

Then, 2016

Cutch admits that his performance was part of the reason for the fall of the Bucs in 2016.

However, he also believes that he can return to that form that made him the Most Valuable Player in 2013, the year in which they left that 21-year wilderness and became a winner again.

"Last season, we took a step backward. And I was a part of that. I’ll be the first to admit that I didn’t play very well last season. The only way I can explain it is that, for me, it was … a grind. There were times when I would step into the box and I just didn’t feel right. Something was off, and I couldn’t put my finger on it. So this off-season, I got back to basics. I tore my swing apart and rebuilt it from the ground up. I got comfortable again. Hitting started to come more naturally — the way it had when I was at my best.

"And yeah, there were days this off-season when I woke up tired, or sore, or not really in the mood to work out. On those days, I’d think about my performance last season. I’d think about the trade rumors. And that was all the motivation I needed to get up and go to work. I’d get in the cage and hit until my hands bled.

"I wanted to get back to being the player I knew I could be. The player the Pirates need me to be. And, as it turns out, what they need me to be is the best rightfielder in Major League Baseball."

Why not?

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