Pittsburgh Pirates' Andrew McCutchen wins NL Outstanding Player of the Year Award – MLB News
The Pittsburgh Pirates' Andrew McCutchen has won the National League Outstanding Player Award. Decided by the balloted votes of the league peers, The Players Choice Awards through the Major League Baseball Players Association go to the players of each league for their magnificent performance in their respective fields.
McCutchen’s winning the award was anticipated with eagerness given the formidability he evinced throughout the year to keep the team afloat. In fact, such was his forcefulness and consistency that the team was almost on its way to win the National League Central title in almost two decades.
His instrumentality was recognised here with the award as he outrivaled the seemingly indomitable Buster Posey, a player who helped the San Francisco Giants to win the World Series title. Added in the list of competitors was Milwaukee Brewers' Ryan Braun as well, but it was McCutchen who came out ahead of the two.
"It means a lot just to have this recognition," McCutchen said after winning the award. "For the guys you play against every single day to recognize what I've done, it's a great honor."
Although he could not win the MLBPA’s Player of the Year Award, being the National League Outstanding Player of the Year was indeed recognition of the talent he possesses. Leading the league with 194 hits, he certainly had a lot of distinctions to his credit to boast.
With batting average standing at .327, and slugging percentage of .553 – while scoring 107 runs in 157 games, he was second in the league in the aforementioned aspects of the game, standing third in OPS with .953.
It was in the last 52 games that there came a slump, wherein he had .240 batting average compared to .372 he had until August 7. But the player vowed to do better.
"It might sound crazy," McCutchen said, "but I know I've got more. That's the beautiful thing about baseball, you can always improve. I had a great year, and definitely enjoyed it, but I'm going to spend the offseason on trying to improve my game."
Even though the Pirates ended up failing to edge their way into post-season games, they showed a renewed resilience this year, emerging as a team that has the capability to outshine any rival.
With Andrew McCutchen performing consistently, the Pirates stand a good chance to improve and make further strides in the coming years – transforming into a team to reckon with.
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