Does Andrew McCutchen Need a DL Stint?

It already feels as though the Pittsburgh Pirates are in the dog days of summer.

Andrew McCutchen has been going through dog days of his own nearly all year. The question can no longer be ignored. What is wrong with the Pittsburgh Pirates slugger?

Earlier this month, news came out the 2013 NL MVP has been playing through an injury to the muscle between his index finger and his thumb on his right hand. For most former baseball players, this is an incredibly common injury, albeit a very painful one.

With the injury being on his right hand, any swing where his contact point is not the barrel will be very, very painful. The impact of the ball and the bat is felt directly in the muscle between the index finger and the thumb on contact with a sharp, stabbing pain making it difficult to finish swings and drive the bat through the ball.

As a former player who’s suffered from this exact injury, just on the opposite hand, playing through it is incredibly difficult. Each swing can – and often, will – reaggravate the injury and the swelling. This makes small tasks like gripping the bat into monumental undertakings.

How To Get Better

As far as treatment, rest is the best case scenario for the muscle itself while ice and massaging serves as the best treatment for the swelling. In McCutchen’s case, the Pirates are in the middle of a brutal skid, losing eight of their last ten games.  As a team leader he’s looked at to help right the ship, even at risk of his own health, right or wrong.

However, if the Pittsburgh Pirates aren’t getting the production out of McCutchen that they need, wouldn’t the club be better served to put him on the disabled list?

Is the thumb injury the only reason for his poor performance? Whether or not that is so, it is a big factor in the grand scheme of things. Through Tuesday night, McCutchen is hitting .241, with ten home runs, and 28 RBIs. Those numbers are a far cry from his career .294 average.

[perfectpullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]Though he has a better supporting cast around him than he has had in the past, as McCutchen goes, the Pittsburgh Pirates go.[/perfectpullquote]

As a result of the success the All-Star centerfielder isn’t having at the plate, many have called to trade him this year. It doesn’t help the argument to keep him that the Pittsburgh Pirates’ prospect Austin Meadows is in AAA and currently mashing the ball.

We have even profiled when would be the right time to trade McCutchen on this site. On the Major League roster, the Pirates have Gold Glove-winning outfielder Starling Marte hitting .333, with six home runs and 27 RBIs, and right fielder Gregory Polanco who is coming into his own this season hitting .293, with nine home runs, and 39 RBIs.

The options are plentiful for the Pirates whether they decide to trade McCutchen and break up a star-studded outfield or do something else with him such as sending him to the disabled list. For this year’s team and this year’s edition of Andrew McCutchen, the best case scenario is a trip to the DL.

Here are three reasons why:

Rest

Rest truly heals this injury. Giving Mccutchen time on the DL allows the center fielder to get back to ground-zero health wise and get back in the groove as if he were healthy. Getting a well-deserved week or two off bodes well for the Pirates down the stretch as they gear up for another playoff run even though as of late, they have not looked like a team capable of sniffing the playoffs.

Since being called up in 2009, Mccutchon has averaged playing in 158 games throughout the season for the Pirates only going on the DL once. As the team has made playoff pushes the last three seasons, McCutchen’s body has earned some mileage as a result. McCutchen, who turns 30 in October, could benefit from some time spent honing his swing and getting it back to a point in which he’s comfortable at the plate.

Showcasing Trade Pieces

With McCutchen spending time on the DL, it would allow the Pirates to showcase trade chips to be used to bolster a struggling pitching staff. McCutchen on the DL allows Matt Joyce and Sean Rodriquez to get boosts in playing time.

While the Pittsburgh Pirates are unlikely to get rid of a guy like Rodriquez, a utility-player who has seen playing time all over the diamond, I could see them disposing of Joyce in a trade. Joyce is currently hitting .295, with seven home runs and 23 RBIs. As a power-hitting corner outfielder, a player having success like Joyce will be a hot commodity at the trade deadline. Joyce’s .295 average this season is 51 points higher than his .244 career average making this the perfect opportunity to trade high and get a big return to add depth to a depleted pitching staff.

Should the Pirates place McCutchen on the DL and trade Joyce or Rodriquez, they will have capable outfielders waiting in the wings. It is quite unlikely Meadows will be up anytime this season barring unforeseen circumstances, however, Alan Hanson has proven to be a quality option in the outfield and infield yet lacks with the bat, and outfielder Willy Garcia could get a call up and fill in admirably for the Pirates in the second half of the season.

Making a stretch run

Catching the Cubs at this point in time, is nearly impossible barring a collapse of epic proportions making it so the Pirates are looking at the Wild Card Game once again. McCutchen is key in getting to that point for the fourth year in a row.

A McCutchen playing at 100 percent is a thing of beauty and should not be taken for granted. Having a healthy McCutchen is imperative if the Pirates want to go deep into the playoffs. Getting the rest now, or even next week would allow McCutchen to be set to come back post-All-Star break. Having a rest of that magnitude gets McCutchen the rest needed to be ready to make a statement in the second half and get the Pirates back in contention in the division as well as Wild Card standings.

If the Pirates want to make it to the playoffs for the fourth season in a row, they will need a healthy McCutchen. Putting McCutchen on the DL now gets the Pirates set up for a post-All-Star break run that will see them get boosts in the pitching department with Triple-A call-ups as well as from the trade market.

Getting through this injury and getting Andrew McCutchen back to 100 percent will help give the Pirates the upper-hand in getting back to the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season in 2016.

Featured Image Credit – Daniel Decker Photography