Andrew McCutchen to Take Part in Home Run Derby
By Matt Shetler
Pittsburgh Pirates center fielder Andrew McCutchen was just named as a participant in Monday night’s Home Run Derby. He’ll be replacing the injured Giancarlo Stanton for the National League, and will join Matt Kemp, Carlos Gonzalez, and Carlos Beltran on the NL team.
McCutchen has 16 homers on the year, and while he doesn’t exactly seem like the ideal candidate for this, there aren’t any other National League All-Stars with more. It should be a fun night to see him on the national stage, and it could be an opportunity to impress some out-of-town media types and help his candidacy for MVP.
I’m somewhat nervous that Cutch could “mess up his swing” but I doubt that happens. I actually don’t believe there is a direction correlation to certain guys numbers dropping after the home run derby.
Hopefully Cutch can manage to do a little better than Jason Bay, who put up a goose-egg in 2005 (the last time a Pirate participated). No Pirate has homered in the Derby since Barry Bonds hit a measly two in 1992.
The Home Run Derby from Kansas City will start at 8 PM EST on Monday on ESPN.