@TheCutch22 About To Force National Media to Notice Pirates

Andrew McCutchen is just a few hours away from participating in his first Home Run Derby. Cutch, added to replace injured Mike Stanton of the Marlins, is one of the top NL homerun hitters in the National League with 18. While Andrew doesn’t look like a power hitter, he has more homers so far than competitor Prince Fielder. Oh, and he didn’t hit his first homer this season until May 8. Let that sit in your stomach for awhile.

McCutchen is having one of the best seasons by a Pittsburgh Pirate EVER and could have a major league record book season for best overal performance. He leads the National League in batting average. He has 60 RBI, an OPS of 1.039, swiped 14 bases and has 40 extra base hits so far. People shouldn’t be shocked when he’s mentioned in MVP talks and could even win a Gold Glove for icing on the cake. Jim Leyland gushed about how he thinks Cutch is better than Barry Bonds in 1992, the last time the Pirates had an MVP and finished above the .500 mark.

But why isn’t he in the same conversation as Matt Kemp, Hamilton, or even Carlos Gonzalez? Because he plays for the Pirates. McCutchen has always been one of the loudest advocates that the goal of this team isn’t to break .500, it’s to make a deep playoff run. He has been the undisputed leader of one of the worst teams in baseball and thus, no one has really paid much attention to him.

Until tonight.

The MLB Homerun Derby is an event that ESPN pumps full of their maketing genius and becomes one of the top watched events of the MLB season. Furthermore, MLB is making a push for a baseball/Twitter integration that no other sport has attempted to do. Thus, tonight’s Derby will have more media power than a Presidential Debate and feel more like a Super Bowl. The perfect stage for McCutchen to make his mark.

Cutch has a Twitter presence that gets followers. He is humorous, honest, and often opinionated on pop culture. He also isn’t afraid to respond to Tweets, another key ingredient for a successful Twitter account. Just last night, his Tweet about flying coach sparked a Pirates’ fan base debate on just how cheap Neal Huntington is. Furthermore, add in the infinite amount of #SWAG McCutchen possess and you have not only the face of a franchise, but the face of an entire league.

All Cutch has to do is be himself and he has the opportunity to make a huge social media splash when more baseball fans are on Twitter, purposefully following the action of the Derby. Throw in the fact that Cutch has a legit shot to win the event, and the dark horse MVP candidate could run away from the pack. Cutch has the demeanor that won’t be affected by the added eyeballs or fans so don’t expect the collected player to suddenly make a personality shift.

He’ll be who he has been all year and that’s exactly what the Pirates need.