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Pirates Notebook: Andrew McCutchen Moved Down in the Lineup

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PITTSBURGH — The Pirates experienced an offensive breakthrough the final two games in Atlanta, scoring 21 runs while winning two straight to take a split of the four-game road trip. But that didn’t stop Clint Hurdle from making some major changes to his lineup for the start of a three-game series with the New York Mets on Friday.

Center fielder Andrew McCutchen, who has hit third all season and has never regular hit below that spot in the order, will bat sixth against the Mets and talented right-handed starter Jacob deGrom.

Hurdle said the change may or may no be long-term, saying, “We’ll see how it plays out.” However, there’s plenty of reasons to make the move. McCutchen owns a .203/.274/.360 line and a team-worst .634 OPS.

Given the season he’s had, McCutchen could have been moved down the lineup even farther — or out of it altogether — especially against right-handers, who have held him to a .458 OPS this season.

But McCutchen is one of the faces of the franchise, and as Tim Williams wrote earlier on Friday, if the Pirates are going to have any hope of recovering any value from him before his contract expires, they are going to need to get him out of his slump.

It’s for that reason that Hurdle likes the move to sixth. He said he ran the decision past one of the team’s quantitative analysts and drew up lineups with McCutchen in every spot before settling on sixth.

“[With] the five guys that are in front of him, the two guys that are trending good behind him, it’s a different look in the lineup,” Hurdle said. “If he’s going to hit in the first inning, it’s a real good thing. If not, he gets to settle in and watch guys hit in front of him through an inning. Just a change in the whole environment with what’s going on.”

Hurdle added that he’s seen that approach — with nothing more than a change in relative scenery — work for getting a hitter going.

“I have seen that,” Hurdle said. “I’ve also seen guys with swing planes that maybe need a little adjustment that you can help with or setups that you might just make a small little move here or there. Or it might just be a mindset. So, whether it’s a combination of one or two of these things, I do believe that the talent is there.

“Our team plays it’s best when Andrew plays good baseball. I think being out the last couple of days continued to bring to his mindset that he doesn’t have to be anything other than the best Andrew he can be this year, right now. We put 21 runs on the board and he had one at-bat (he had two) in those two games. That could help a guy along the way, just realizing that you don’t have to do everything they think you have to do all the time.”

McCutchen, when discussing the move before the game Friday, almost seemed relieved to make the change and receptive to the idea that some of the problems might have been of his own creation.

“The three-hole, sometimes, can be one of those where you feel like you’ve got to produce and deliver and come through, especially maybe early in the game or middle of the game,” McCutchen said. “I have had plenty of opportunities the last few series with runners in scoring position and I might have been putting a little extra pressure on myself and feel like I have gotta do a little more. And I think being a little further down the lineup is going to help me feel like I don’t have to put more pressure on myself. And whoever is going to be in the 3-hole, they will be able to pick up the slack from where I was at. … It might be just trying to take a little load off myself and doing everything I can to get me going and I’m all for it.”

McCutchen is also looking at some mechanical adjustments, as well, with a particular focus on keeping his upper half connected with his lower half and not over-rotating on pitches that are outside. He’s identified the problem, but now it’s time to see if he can put that change into practice after two games off.

“It is a lot easier to say certain things as opposed to actually doing them,” McCutchen said. “As long as I know what I am doing and fixing that, that’s half the battle. Last year, I felt like I didn’t know what I was doing and I didn’t know how to fix it and I was just question mark. Honestly I didn’t know what to do. Now, it’s like, ‘OK, I see what’s going on.’ Now it’s about fixing it and working on it, working on it, working on it, and repetition so I can learn. The more I keep repeating the more I keep doing it, the better off I am going to be. And that’s what I’m working on now and it’s just about taking what I’m doing now onto the field into the game and producing.”

McCutchen has been taking extensive early batting practice with Hurdle and hitting coach Jeff Branson. Branson and McCutchen go way back, with Branson serving as the manager of Single-A Hickory during McCutchen’s 19-year-old season in 2006.

“He was the first person that actually showed me that I had more power than I thought,” McCutchen said. “So, he understands me and he knows me well. We are able to pick each other’s brains and go from there and not feel like it’s putting more on me or he’s bashing me for something. We have a great relationship and it’s good, something that I have needed. And I definitely think it is going to help.”

Hurdle and McCutchen got some extra time in Atlanta to do some soul-searching and the positive attitude the Pirates’ star has about his new role and the work that needs to be done to save his season could be considered a sign of the bond between the two.

“He’s always been a man that wants to perform and do well for his team,” Hurdle said. “It’s the situation we’re in together and how we can best serve each other moving forward. He’s been really good. He’s been incredible.”

INJURY UPDATES

** RF Gregory Polanco will start for the first time since going on the disabled list with left hamstring strain May 15. Polanco said he feels “strong” and has no restrictions.

** RHP Jameson Taillon threw a 35-pitch bullpen session Thursday in Atlanta. He said it “felt good to get back on the mound” and thinks that because he was only down from throwing for about a week, he should be able to make a quick return to throwing form.

STARTING LINEUP

Josh Bell is the new No. 3 hitter, with David Freese slotting in at fifth and Francisco Cervelli and Jordy Mercer following McCutchen. Expect Hurdle to try to stick with this lineup for a little while to see how it works.

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