Dunlap: Marketable McCutchen Never Stops Moving
BRADENTON, Fla.
From this place to that place.
One scheduled event off to the next. It's a whirlwind; a hasty, never-gets-a-chance-to-rest existence for Pirates center fielder Andrew McCutchen here at Pirates Spring Training.
Whether he's doing a green screen shoot for the Pirates in-house video people that will appear on the scoreboard at PNC Park this season, going through the paces for a production that's part of his shoe deal or shooting an endorsement spot for a video game there is little --- if any --- idle time for the Pirates superstar.
It is meticulously calculated madness for No. 22.
There are the storylines about the South Korean second baseman, the fifth guy in the rotation, how the new catcher will hold up and the construction of the bullpen, but from this vantage, something rises to near the top of the list as the most noticeable subplots in Spring: How McCutchen has turned from a ballplayer to a full-blown product.
Andrew McCutchen, undeniably, has become a brand.
That's not a negative.
That's not a complaint.
That's not an undesirable position whatsoever.
That's just reality.
In an atypical down moment on Sunday afternoon, McCutchen sat in his McKechnie Field locker with ice bags fastened to both knees and was asked a simple question, "How have things been?"
His answer was just as simple, "Been busy, man. Real busy."
Sure has.
That's what happens when you have that gazillion dollar smile, a marketable look like few have --- with those elegant locks falling out of his hat --- but can also back it up by rising to a level among the game's elite.
McCutchen has all of it.
The four-time all-star is coming off a three-season stretch where he's hit no less than .314 while topping 21 home runs each season. He's also seen a growth in his on-base percentage, from .400 in 2012 to .404 the following season and then .410 last year.
And that's not counting his ability to gallop through that enormous PNC Park outfield and cover more grass than just about any man Pittsburgh has seen.
By any measure, the 28-year-old is at not just the top of his game, but at the top of this game, just as Major League Baseball is looking for exactly what McCutchen is --- a marketable superstar to help build their brand around.
But just as he's grown in status, there McCutchen was on Monday before a workout that proceeded the Twins game here, doing something that is just as important --- simply being one of the guys. Out a side door of the Pirates clubhouse emerged McCutchen with Josh Harrison, Neil Walker and Pedro Alvarez, cracking jokes, smiling and doing what ballplayers do.
They ribbed each other, they laughed, they talked about what awaited them on this postcard-perfect 81-degree day.
It wasn't McCutchen being one iota aloof. Quite the opposite, actually. He just blended in as a teammate.
If you were happen by that group, no one would be able to pick out which guy won an MVP and is among the game's finest.
Perhaps that's McCutchen's noblest quality. As he's risen to among baseball's nobility, he's remained the same "Cutch" to his teammates.
"Baseball is in good hands when you see Andrew McCutchen around," shortstop Jordy Mercer said. "They said that with Derek Jeter and we are going to be fine with Andrew as well [as one of the faces of baseball].
"Just the work that he puts in to continue to get better. … You turn around and see an amazing play and are like, 'How did that happen?'"
Mercer then thought for a moment.
"[But then you say] that's Andrew," Mercer continued, as if to make a claim that the special has become routine for McCutchen. "And I'm glad to be a part of it, to be honest with you."
We all should be.
It has never been more recognizable that Pittsburgh's superstar is becoming baseball's superstar.
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