McCutchen for MVP

[Etrius24]

His numbers all across the board are excellent.. He plays a tough position defensively and does it very well... He runs, he hits for average and power... His OPS is great... He is a complete player.

And for the time being the Pirates are playing well enough to be considered in the post season... I think the only chance he has of winning the award hinges on the Pirates getting to the post season... Writers do not easily reward players who are dominant on losing teams. It is not exactly fair, but that is the way it is!

I think there is a very good chance he wins the Gold Glove for centerfield...and he might win the batting title... He has a chance at 30 homeruns and 30 stolen bases... How can you do all of that and not be a MVP candidate?????

 

[Darkstone42]

According to statistics, if he wins a gold glove in center field, he'll be the least deserving player to do so since Nate McLouth. Fangraphs has his WAR as only the fifth best among NL outfielders, and he's tied for 11th in the NL with Chase Headley of all people across all positions.

He's playing extremely well, and offense is more important than defense, so the losses he suffers in WAR from his -7.9 UZR probably drop him about five spots more than he needs to be, but, in my opinion, until his defense improves, he's not a true MVP candidate.

 

[element1286]

According to statistics, if he wins a gold glove in center field, he'll be the least deserving player to do so since Nate McLouth. Fangraphs has his WAR as only the fifth best among NL outfielders, and he's tied for 11th in the NL with Chase Headley of all people across all positions.

He's playing extremely well, and offense is more important than defense, so the losses he suffers in WAR from his -7.9 UZR probably drop him about five spots more than he needs to be, but, in my opinion, until his defense improves, he's not a true MVP candidate.

I'm all for UZR and WAR, but I can't imagine taking the numbers that literally. In the NL, I'd have a hard time putting him any lower 3rd or 4th right now.

 

[Etrius24]

Darkstone...

I agree with the numbers you refer to.. they are important.. to people that care about them... Baseball writers are not always among those people though..

Anyone else still remember when a certain DH won a gold glove at first base a decade ago??? He won the glove because he was a good hitter. And the same thing could be said for Derek Jeter... Under no circumstances should Jeter ever be considered a good fielder or even league average... but he was a known name and he outhit most of the other candidates... and presto he won the award.

When Mclouth won his gold glove he was at his offensive peak...and the writers rewarded him for that with the award of gold glove... This is a trend....

So zone rating, fielding % and war.... go right out the door when the writers vote on this...

 

[Etrius24]

At last McCutchen is a good fielder....unlike Derek Jeter who was the worst defensive shortstop in baseball when he won a gold glove in 2010

 

[Etrius24]

As we approach the half way point in the season the Bucs are IN FIRST PLACE!!! I will never get tired of saying or typing that!!!

So let's look at McCutchen, Wright, and Votto to compare the three players

Wright first: He is a big reason the Mets are in contention in the east... He is having a great season... Because his team might get to the post season and he is the best player on that team we will look at his numbers.

He is hitting .351! He has an OPS of 1.007! 10 homeruns 38 extra base hits 8 stolen bases and caught 7 times. He has 54 RBI and has scored 54 runs. His baserunning hurts him a little because you need to be successfull more than 2/3rds of the time for the stolen bases to be beneficial to the offense... Other than that it is hard to find any fault with Wright this season...Decent power... great average and on base percentage...

So again with Joey Votto... The Reds are in contention for the NL central..He is their best player and he is having a great season...All the same criteria as wright. Votto is a great defender but he only plays first base...That hurts him just a little in my opinion when you are comparing him to two other players that are good defensively and they play third base and center field. Here are Votto's offensive numbers.

Offensively Votto is having a monster year.. He is walking at a incredible rate, hitting for average and power.. He is batting .352! getting on base 47% of the time (incredible) and has an OPS of 1.101 14 homeruns 47 RBI and 50 runs scored.

Now lets look at McCutchen... He does play a premium defensive position so that should help him a little bit... The Bucs are in first place, and he is clearly their best player...So he again fits the same criteria as the other two.

Cutch is hitting .360!!! He has a strong OPS of 1.024.. He has 16 homeruns 54 RBI and 52 runs scored. He also has 14 stolen bases and has only been caught 4 times.

So let's put some numbers beside some numbers so we can see just how impressive Cutch has been and how well he stacks up. Sorry I cannot impliment a spreadsheet here guys I do not know how.

...................Avg.......HR.......RBI.......Runs......SB......OPS

Wright :.......351........10........54........54.........8.......1.007
Votto :......,.352........14........47........50.........4.......1.101
Cutch :........360........16........54........52........14......1.024

So any argument you can make for Votto or Wright you can make for McCutchen.. He is leading these guys in average, stolen bases, homeruns, and in between them in OPS. He is playing the most demanding position defensively also...

Votto is one of my favourite players in baseball... But I think that right now there is a very convincing arguement to be made for McCutchen and it is not just because I cheer for the Buccos.

I guess the next step we need to take is to look at home ball parks and see how that adjusts the accomplishments of the three players... I have to go to work this afternoon... perhaps someone will take a run at this and post those numbers to this debate?

Happy 4th guys

-Bucs in first place!

 

[element1286]

McCutchen's numbers are getting out of hand.....he is easily a top 3 MVP candidate as of now.

 

[Darkstone42]

His defensive metrics steadily improved throughout the month of June, as well, for what it's worth.

 

[sychmd]

ave to above ave defense, ave CF arm.

but offensively out of this world, carried the team, and on the weakest hitting team for 2 months and had all the key hits and people could pitch around him and he still produced,

he has made our #2 hitter great as anyone in the 2 hole does well.

i believe mcgehee and jones in the 4 hole has also benefitted much be cuth's production as well.

both votto and votto is on a very good team and good offensive team.

mets offense is better than bucs and worse than cin.

wright is best d out of the 3.

cutch does make some great plays to make up for weak arm and poor routes.

 

[Etrius24]

Element...

I agree he has to be top 3... But i watched a little thing on ESPN where they mentioned Cutch but then said absolutely that Votto was the MVP.. And looking at these numbers there is a case that Cutch is actually more valuable than Votto.

Tonight I will try to look at adjusted offensive numbers... But based on these numbers you can make a very strong argument that Cutch is the MVP instead of Votto.

If Votto won the MVP I would not be devastated because he is a great player having a great year...He is deserving in many ways...But I would like to see writers and analysts start suggesting that Cutch is in fact the MVP of the NL this year...

No team depends on their best player more than Pittsburgh depends on Cutch... He is their offense for the most part.

 

[WVUinVegas]

Element...

But I would like to see writers and analysts start suggesting that Cutch is in fact the MVP of the NL this year...

John Kruk said Cutch is the first half NL MVP if that means anything to you

 

[thedddd]

It will be interesting to say the least. If the Reds (Votto)/Pirates (McCutchen) stay in it all year I have a feeling whatever team comes out in front will go a lot for who wins.

The same could be said for the Brewers and Braun. If somehow they get back into it his name will come up.

 

[Etrius24]

wvuinvegas

If Kruk indeed said that he is my new favourite ESPN personality. (O: