For the second month in a row, Pittsburgh Pirates center fielder Andrew McCutchen has been named the National League Player of the Month. During the month of July, McCutchen hit for a .446/.510/.739 line in 92 at-bats, with seven home runs. His average, runs scored, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage all ranked second during the month of July in the National League. He tied for fifth in homers and his 68 total bases were third in the majors.
McCutchen set a Pirates franchise record for the highest batting average in the month of July (50 at-bats minimum) since 1900. He finished the month going 3-for-5, which was his major league leading 16th game with three hits, and his 12th multi-hit game in July.
McCutchen becomes the first Pittsburgh Pirate to win two Player of the Month honors in the same season since Bobby Bonilla in 1988 (who also won in back to back months). The last NL player to accomplish this was Ryan Howard, in August and September 2006).
Tim started Pirates Prospects in 2009 from his home in Virginia, which was 40 minutes from where Pedro Alvarez made his pro debut in Lynchburg. That year, the Lynchburg Hillcats won the Carolina League championship, and Pirates Prospects was born from Tim's reporting along the way. The site has grown over the years to include many more writers, and Tim has gone on to become a credentialed MLB reporter, producing Pirates Prospects each year, and will publish his 11th Prospect Guide this offseason. He has also served as the Pittsburgh Pirates correspondent for Baseball America since 2019. Behind the scenes, Tim is an avid music lover, and most of the money he gets paid to run this site goes to vinyl records.
There are some who think Cutch is the best player in the NL, and I agree. How much better would he be if hitting in front of Votto or Braun ?????
This goes a long way to helping him win MVP. Lots of the writers who vote haven’t got a clue who is having the best year. They will see a guy winning this award 2 out of the 6 months in the season and will know that even though they may not know much, they won’t look too bad voting for a guy who accomplished this feat. (My not so humble opinion here, of course.)
What are the odds of Cutch winning three straight Player of the Month Awards?
He’s gonna need the power to reappear. Three xbh (no HR) since July 17th, what a slacker.
He’s off to a good start.