Andrew McCutchen went 0-for-3 with a strikeout on Tuesday, dropping his spring average to .167.
As the farewell tour enters year three, it’s pretty obvious that the Pirates could do better at DH than McCutchen without even spending much more money, if only the team was about winning in the first place. It’s not the McCutchen is abysmal, at least not yet. He managed a 112 OPS+ in 2023 and a 105 OPS+ at age 37 last season. Still, he had easily the highest strikeout rate of his career last year, and he’s struggling to hold up physically even as a DH. Things could come crashing down this season.