After initially holding out hope that Andrew McCutchen could avoid the disabled list--including general manager Neal Huntington saying yesterday that he’d made “remarkable” progress in his recovery--the Pirates have placed the reigning MVP on the shelf with an avulsion fracture of his rib.
McCutchen spent one week on the active roster but unavailable to play, so the Pirates are able to backdate his disabled list stint. However, there’s certainly no guarantee that Pittsburgh’s center fielder and No. 3 hitter will return when eligible.
Prior to the injury McCutchen was actually besting last season’s MVP-winning production in many key categories while hitting .311 with 17 homers, 17 steals, a league-leading 68 walks, and a .949 OPS.
In his absence the Pirates have shifted Starling Marte from left field to center field while using Travis Snider and Josh Harrison in a left field time-share. Pittsburgh is 62-55, trailing Milwaukee by 2.5 games in the NL Central and holding onto the second of two Wild Card spots.
