With Andrew McCutchen scuffling, who should be hitting third for the Pittsburgh Pirates?

After 45 games, it’s clear that whatever is plaguing Andrew McCutchen at the plate is still apparent. His 2016 slump has extended into the 2017 season, yet McCutchen continues to bat third for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Andrew McCutchen has been given every possible chance to succeed by the Pittsburgh Pirates.

He’s batted in his customary No. 3 spot in all 44 games that he has started in 2017 and has been the team’s everyday centerfielder again after Starling Marte was suspended in mid-April.

Despite manager Clint Hurdle’s confidence that his former MVP will return to his old self, McCutchen has carried last season’s struggles into this season.

Hurlde has historically had his star player’s back and is hesitant to move McCutchen out of the third spot. However, that day is coming. And when it comes, who should be inserted into one of the most important spots in the batting order?

Last season’s struggles continue

After Monday night’s 0-4 showing, McCutchen’s average is now at .206 and his on-base percentage is .279, both career lows. His Isolated Power (.168) and Batting Average on Balls In Play (.228) are both nearing all-time lows as well. McCutchen is hitting fly balls at a career-high rate (41.9-percent), but is hitting line drives at a career-low rate (16.3-percent).

Andrew McCutchen when batting third

After the first month of this season, there was cause for concern, but the panic button hadn’t been hit yet. After all, McCutchen is a career .254 hitter in March and April, his worst month. That McCutchen is struggling in May, his second-best month for batting average historically, is cause for legitimate concern.

If Hurdle is to make a change, here’s the candidates to fill the No. 3 spot in the Pittsburgh Pirates’ order.

David Freese

When the Pittsburgh Pirates first signed Freese during 2016 Spring Training, his purpose seemed to be the starting third baseman in 2016 until Jung-Ho Kang returned from injury and then could fill in as a solid bench player.

Instead, Freese became a lineup regular thanks to a strong start to the season at the plate and from learning how to play first base. Freese hit .291 in the first half, but fell to .240 in the second half thanks to never hitting about .270 in a month from June on out. The St. Louis native finished the season with a .270 average and .352 on-base percentage in 141 games, his most games played in four years.

The biggest reason for Freese’s falloff was his overuse. Though he debuted in 2009, just like McCutchen, Freese is four years older than McCutchen and nearing the final phase of his career. He’s not the most successful player over an extended period of playing time at this point in his career, but continues to find playing time this season as Kang has yet to return to America.

Despite concern over Freese’s durability, he’s already missed time this season due to a hamstring injury, he may be the Pirates best option to bat third in the short term. Even after a slow start at the plate this season (.263 AVG, .368 OBP), Freese has still been better than McCutchen and would be an improvement in the three hole.

Last season, Freese batted third more than any other spot in the lineup. Part of that was because of the two-month experiment of batting McCutchen second that ultimately failed. For the bulk of those games, Freese batted behind McCutchen and hit .307 there. Freese had 24 Weighted Runs Created (wRC is an improved RBI statistic), his best of any spot in the lineup.

If the Pirates are to bat Freese third ahead of McCutchen, it’d be because Freese has been slightly better than McCutchen in the last two years. Overall, it’s obvious that McCutchen has had a better career statistically than Freese.

It’s that past success and the potential turnaround that keeps Hurdle from moving his centerfielder out of the three hole. However, McCutchen has yet to bounce back and Freese is the most experienced option to fill in at the No. 3 spot in the order.

Josh Bell

He is not the ideal No. 3 hitter because of his low average, but Bell has two compelling cases for hitting third: power and switch-hitting.

After Bell’s memorable first two hits in his first two major league at bats against the Chicago Cubs as a pinch hitter last season, he cooled off and was quiet for much of the remainder of 2016. Bell hit .273 with a .368 OBP and three home runs. This season, he’s hitting .246 with a .338 OBP and nine home runs.

Bell’s average and on-base percentage leave more to be desired, but his power has improved. Consider that Bell hit three home runs in 152 plate appearances last season. Through his first 152 plate appearances this season, Bell had nine home runs.

As the team leader in home runs, Bell is becoming THE power bat in the Pittsburgh Pirates lineup. Hurdle recognized and rewarded Bell for his improved power by batting him fourth against the Washington Nationals on May 18 for the first time this season. Bell responded with a home run in his first at bat and has now batted cleanup in four of the last five games.

Besides power, Bell’s switch-hitting also makes him valuable in the three hole. Bell is Pittsburgh’s only switch hitter and will make decisions difficult for opposing managers when deciding which reliever to bring in against Bell with Frazier and/or Harrison on base ahead of him.

Bell offers McCutchen his best security option at the plate, but McCutchen has hit .136 in those five games with Bell behind him. Bumping Bell up a spot gives him more opportunities to produce. Now that Adam Frazier is back in the lineup, he and Josh Harrison have established a 1-2 punch atop the Pirates order. Add Bell directly after Frazier and Harrison and it could be the kick-start that the Pirates offense needs.

Consider that Bell at No. 3 would not see as many two-out at bats as he does while batting cleanup. Because of McCutchen’s struggles, Bell must get more at bats to drive in runs, so the No. 3 spot may be perfect for him.

Starling Marte

Obviously, this would not take effect until at least July 18, but Marte may be the Pirates’ best choice. Never mind Freese’s experience batting third or Bell’s power to start 2017.

Consider that the Pirates are without their best pure hitter. Marte led Pittsburgh batters who had at least 200 plate appearances with a .311 average and was third with a .362 OBP.

The biggest reason not to bat Marte third is because of his lack of power last season.His nine home runs in 529 plate appearances suggest a different approach at the plate. However, it was his fewest dingers since smacking five over 182 plate appearances in his rookie campaign of 2012. History says he will do better going forward.

However, in the four seasons in which Marte had at least 500 plate appearances, he collected over 140 hits in all four years. With runners on and more at-bats, Marte’s RBI total will skyrocket.

Slim pickings

Marte is the best option in the long-run, but for now the choice should be between Bell and Freese to replace McCutchen in the No. 3 spot in the batting order. Neither is the perfect three-hole hitter, but both are better options than McCutchen right now.

In reality, the PittsburghPirates best option to bat third is the 2012-15 version of McCutchen. Over that stretch, he was a perennial MVP candidate and won one in 2013. Even the 2015 version of McCutchen, the “worst” of that four-year span, would be the ideal No. 3 hitter.

Freese, Bell or Marte would improve the Pirates by any one of them hitting third, but Pittsburgh is hurting without a productive McCutchen. It’s the reason that the Pittsburgh Pirates are last in the National League at the end of May.

Featured Image Credit – Daniel Decker Photogrpahy