Andrew McCutchen
From BR Bullpen
Andrew Stefan McCutchen
- Bats Right, Throws Right
- Height 5' 11", Weight 175 lb.
- High School Fort Meade High School
- Born October 10, 1986 in Fort Meade, FL USA
Andrew McCutchen was a Baseball America first-team All-American in his senior year of high school, during which he batted .709, slugged a whopping 1.836 and stole 16 bases. In the 2004 World Junior Championship, he hit only .133 as the Team USA center fielder though his six runs were second on the team to Justin Upton. Picked by the Pittsburgh Pirates with the 11th overall pick of the 2005 amateur draft, McCutchen signed for $1,950,000.
Andrew began his professional career that season with the GCL Pirates and hit .297/.411/.430 with 13 steals in 14 tries. Moving up to the Williamsport Crosscutters, he batted .346/.443/.442 in 13 games. He led Gulf Coast League outfielders with four double plays and Baseball America rated him as the league's top prospect. He hit .293/.358/.449 for the 2006 Hickory Crawdads with 22 steals in 29 tries and got called up to the Altoona Curve when Vic Buttler was promoted to AAA. McCutchen became the youngest player in the history of the Curve and went on to hit .308/.379/.474 in 20 games with the club. His 17 total homers showed excellent power for a player his age. Baseball America named him the top prospect in the South Atlantic League in a rare unanimous consensus of scouts and managers. He also was named the Pirates minor league player of the year.
McCutchen impressed Pirates management in spring training of 2007, hitting well and showing a great glove in Grapefruit League play. He started 2007 slowly, though, hitting under .200 for over a month. Initially, the woes were blamed on the cold temperatures McCutchen had never faced before, but they continued through May. He recovered as the year progressed to push his batting line to .258/.327/.383 by mid-August; one positive was 17 steals in 18 tries. Despite having not yet solved AA, McCutchen was promoted to the AAA Indianapolis Indians alongside fellow first-rounder Neil Walker with a couple weeks left in the season.
Sources: 2006 Baseball Guide, Minorleaguebaseball.com
