Ross Ohelndorf and Mike Pelfrey at 12:35 in the first game of the Andrew McCutchen era in Pittsburgh. One of my favorite things to write to remind people why certain trades have to happen is, “You have to remember that [Jason Bay, Xavier Nady, maybe even Nate McLouth] wasn’t going to be here by the time the Pirates finally make the playoffs again.” Well, folks, Andrew McCutchen will be here when that happens, or we’re probably never making the playoffs again.
He’s batting leadoff today and playing in center field, and I’d just like to remind all the people out there that hate the McLouth trade (and I know there are a lot of you) that we didn’t trade McClouth for McCutchen. He’s only 22 right now and he’s going to struggle at times, but it’s absolutely not fair to take your frustration out on him.
In fact, regardless of how you feel about this trade, you should be excited to see McCutchen. He’s the rare prospect that was drafted by Dave Littlefield and made it mostly through Littlefield’s minor league torture chamber to arrive in Pittsburgh as a good prospect. He’s the best Pirate hitting prospect since … I don’t even know when. Aramis Ramirez, I guess. Hopefully, we’ll get used to players like this making their debuts in the next few years, but right now, this is something special. Get out your radios, double-check those DVRs, and let’s enjoy this.
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