What's up with Cutch?

After a brutal game with lots of missed opportunities, all eyes were fixed firmly on MVP-candidate Andrew McCutchen. With no outs in the ninth and the bases loaded, McCutchen stepped to the plate wearing an 0-4 collar and looking for redemption. Instead of a game-tying base hit, Cutch managed a soft grounder for a forceout. A strikeout by Garrett Jones and another groundout by Josh Harrison ended the game. The Pirates lost to the Cardinals 5-4. Immediately, the questions surfaced: what's up with Cutch?

After some recent struggles, some have speculated that he's been unlucky. After all, his BABIP was pretty unsustainable for most of the season. Others surmised that he is still shaken from the beaning he got in Cincinnati by Aroldis Chapman, which, as the story goes, makes him susceptible to balls down and away. Here's the thing, McCutchen has struggled with pitches down and away all season, especially good sliders. That was true in July when he hit .446 the same as it's true in August when he's "only" hitting .286. Pitchers are simply working him down and away more often and with increasingly positive results. That's why Cutch has been complaining about the strike so often recently. He knows he has trouble getting good wood on those pitches, so he's looking for them to be called balls. And you know what? Sometimes they are called balls. In fact, McCutchen has walked 12 times this month, which is tied for his best monthly total only 18 days into August. Remember earlier this year when we wondered why they still pitched to McCutchen? Well, this is them learning their lesson. Pitch McCutchen hard away, and if you walk him, well at least he didn't beat you.

What McCutchen needs to do is find a way to adjust. He's got to find a way to drive the ball the opposite way and crush mistakes. His OBP is an impressive .420 this month, but it's his slugging that has suffered. He's managed only a .446 rate this month. He's walking, poking singles the other way or buggy-whipping balls over the third baseman; but he's not driving through the ball and generating power. His isolated power is under .200 for the first time since April and he's managed only 5 extra-base hits this month. That's simply not good enough for an MVP. I'm sure he's fatigued; I'm sure he's frustrated; but if this team is going to make the playoffs, he needs to make an adjustment. It's a lot of pressure for a young man, but that's what teams expect from their MVP, let alone the MVP of the league.