McCutchen on fast track with Pirates
Only 15 months ago, McCutchen was playing baseball for a small high school in Florida. Now, the 19-year-old is the Pirates Minor League Player of the Year and a can't-miss blue-chip prospect.
"I haven't even had time yet to think about my year that I had," McCutchen said. "But I'm sure when I do I will be kind of amazed."
McCutchen's amazing ride started in February, when the 11th overall pick in the 2005 First-Year Player Draft earned rave reviews from the Pirates coaching staff for his play in the team's big-league Spring Training camp. He followed that up by hitting .291 with 14 home runs and 62 RBIs in 114 games with Class A Hickory and being named by Baseball America as the top prospect in the South Atlantic League.
McCutchen was so impressive at Hickory that the Pirates promoted him to Double-A Altoona. As the youngest player in Curve history, the speedy center fielder batted .308 with three home runs and 12 RBIs in 20 games.
"It's been a great experience," said McCutchen. "Just to start off in big-league camp -- it seem like everything accelerated from there. It got bigger and bigger.
"It seemed like everything was going so fast in one season. To end up in Double-A, that's something I didn't expect. I was shooting for high A."
McCutchen's big year isn't quite over yet. He currently is participating in the Pirates instructional league in Bradenton, Fla., where he typically plays five or six innings during home games.
"The thing I really need to work on is stealing bases," said McCutchen, who swiped 23 bags in 31 attempts this season. "[The Pirates] think I can steal a lot more bases, and I think I can steal a lot more bases than I did this year."
After breezing through the Pirates farm system in his first two seasons of professional baseball, McCutchen is optimistic that it won't be long before he's making more frequent visits to PNC Park.
"Maybe I'll get a call up next year," said McCutchen. "Hopefully I'm here by '08."
Ed Eagle is a reporter for MLB.com.