Andrew McCutchen Wins National League Player of the Week

Pirate center fielder Andrew McCutchen finished the 2017 campaign by taking home an award

On Monday afternoon Major Leauge Baseball announced their final players of the month and week awards for the 2017 season. Pittsburgh Pirates’ center fielder Andrew McCutchen was one of these players as he was named the National League Player of the Week.

If this past week was McCutchen’s final as a Pirate, he went out with a bang.

During the season’s final week McCutchen went 8-for-17 with two home runs, three doubles, and a .526 on-base percentage. This included McCutchen going 4-for-4 with his first career grand slam and two home runs last Tuesday against the Orioles. In this game, he became the first Pirate since Jason Bay in July of 2004 to drive in eight runs in one game.

The big final week from Andrew McCutchen capped off a great bounce back campaign. After having the worst season of his career in 2016, McCutchen was excellent in 2017. He finished the season with a .360 wOBA, a 122 wRC+, and a 3.7 fWAR.

His .207 ISO this season was the second highest of his career. Also, McCutchen finished the season with 28 home runs which was three shy of his career-best 31 home runs in 2012. He also made huge improvements in center field after being the worst defensive center fielder in baseball in 2016.

Next: John Jaso Leaning Toward Retirement

While I expect Andrew McCutchen to be a Pittsburgh Pirate in 2018, that is far from a guarantee. Neal Huntington will shop him this offseason and if the right deal presents itself Huntington could pull the trigger. If this happens, at least McCutchen will go out with a bang having won National League Player of the Week in the season’s final week.