MVP Award Hasn't Changed Andrew McCutchen's Focus

By DICK SCANLON
LEDGER CORRESPONDENT

http://www.theledger.com/

March 31, 2014

BRADENTON | The demands on Andrew McCutchen's time were constant this spring, as might be expected after the Pittsburgh Pirates center fielder from Fort Meade won the National League's Most Valuable Player award.

As the Pirates' most celebrated player in decades, McCutchen was the center of attention all winter and spring. It was easy to get distracted.

"But I kept the main thing the main thing, and that's to get ready for baseball," he said.

When a recent exhibition game was rained out, it was McCutchen who was asked to make the trip worthwhile for the Robinson Five, a gospel singing group from Lake Wales that went over to sing the national anthem. With the game called off, the young singers asked to meet McCutchen, for whom they put on a concert near the Pirates' clubhouse. Still in his uniform, McCutchen handled the situation with warmth and dignity.

"He's always been a confident man, and I think with the success that he's continued to have, there could be more confidence growing," said Pirates manager Clint Hurdle. "There's more leadership growing. He's 27 years old. I do believe he feels there's more in front of him, more there for him."

McCutchen, who lives in Lakeland, hit .417 with five home runs this spring. Today in Pittsburgh, he will be presented with the MVP award by Barry Bonds, the last Pirate to win the award in 1992.

"It doesn't take the MVP to give you confidence," McCutchen said. "I always said the happiest things don't come as a surprise; you have to have the expectation for yourself.

"I don't necessarily say I expect to get an MVP because that's not what I shoot for. I just shoot to help my team out in any way, shape or form that I possibly can. I know I have the ability to do well and play well, and that's basically it."

When a player reaches McCutchen's stature and/or wins a major award, it's not unusual for his picture to be on the cover of the team's media guide the following year. This year McCutchen is on the cover and the back.

None of that is going to faze him, Pirates catcher Russell Martin said.

"No matter the situation, he's just level-headed, always under control, but yet he's so dynamic and explosive," Martin said. "It's a weird combination of somebody who can be in control and so dynamic and explosive."

With that formula under control, Hurdle wouldn't be surprised to see McCutchen have a better season than last season, when he batted .317 with 21 home runs and led the Pirates to their first winning season in 21 years.

"Right now he's in a very good place. He's in a confident place, a very competitive place," Hurdle said. "I think the challenge for players is to have a backyard mentality in a major league environment, and that doesn't happen at the same time for every player. For some players it never happens.

"It looks to me like he's been getting to that place more often that not, where it's just ‘I'm playing a game.' The great ones really have that mentality where it doesn't matter that it's in front of 50,000, it doesn't matter that it's the bottom of the ninth. None of that matters. He has a lot of emotion, and I think he channels it properly."

Considering the level of stardom he has achieved, channeling that emotion and attention may be McCutchen's biggest challenge at this stage of his career.

"Last year was great, but that's over with. We're focused on what we have in front of us," he said. "I keep the main thing the main thing. When the season starts, I'll be ready to go. I'm just taking it day by day right now. I've tended to do that, and it's working for me so that's what I'm going to keep doing."