McHeist Is Set to Blaze New Trail
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CHICAGO -- The calendar said 1910, exactly 100 years ago, back when men were men and Pirates were pirates on the basepaths, especially outfielder Max Carey, who made his major league debut.
In the next 17 seasons, Carey set a standard for Pirates base-stealers that would remain more than a century later. Ten times he led the National League in the category. He would finish with 688 steals in a Pirates uniform, an average of 40-plus per season.
Mr. Carey, meet Andrew McCutchen.
In 34 games this season, McCutchen has stolen 10 bases, one fewer than Michael Bourn, the Houston Astros speed burner. The total projects to 48 in a 162-game season.
At his peak, McHeist may be capable of more a lot more.
"Whew. It wouldn't be far-fetched to think that Andrew could steal between 75 and 80 bags in his prime," said third base coach Tony Beasley, who worked closely with McCutchen in the last two seasons.
Omar Moreno owns the team record of 96 stolen bases, which he set in the 1980 season.
"Andrew will get on base a lot," Beasley said. "When he's on first base, he'll have a chance to steal most of the time. There are very few people that can stop him."
Except McCutchen himself perhaps.
It's unlikely that McCutchen will approach the Carey standard even if he spends the majority of an extended career in a Pirates uniform. For one, there was far more emphasis on the run game when Carey played than in the live ball era now.
McCutchen doubles as an extra-base threat, and as a result, he may bat in the middle of the order for the much of his career. (By contrast, Carey batted either first or second normally.) If so, he will have fewer opportunities to steal bases there than he would in the lead-off position, for instance.
Or as McCutchen said with the hint of a laugh, "How many bases will I steal in my prime? Depends on how many doubles and home runs that I hit."
In the 14 games that McCutchen has batted in the third position, he was thrown out in his only steal attempt. But Beasley does not believe that spot will limit him on the basepaths to any great degree.
"Andrew does get a lot of extra-base hits, and that's a good thing," Beasley said. "But I don't think that it will limit him on the bases much at all. (Manager) John Russell has emphasized to him that, even if he does hit ahead of Jonesey (Garrett Jones) in the order, he shouldn't be any less aggressive. He's very aware of that."
The tone was set in spring training, when Russell and his staff told the outfielder that it was imperative to utilize his speed and be a dominant force in run game. Russell even gave him the green light except for a few specific game situations.
"The staff let him know that it wants him to be who he is -- a base-stealer," Beasley said. "He's not a guy that happens to steal bases. He has taken to that. He mindset is, when he's on base, he wants to steal the next bag."
McCutchen has a better feel for what he can and cannot do on the basepaths. Unlike last season, when he stole 22 bases in 27 attempts as a rookie, McCutchen has a book on the National League pitchers and catchers now.
"I have more information than before," he said. "I know the tendencies of a lot of the pitchers now. The more you see them, the better you can read their moves. It's just the normal maturation process that a player goes through early in his career."
The result has been a more confident and assertive McCutchen this season.
"He has a more aggressive mindset," Beasley said. "He thinks more like a base-stealer. He wants to get the bag. He's not so worried about whether he'll be thrown out. He has taken the fear out of it. He's not afraid to run in big situations when we want him in scoring position, whereas last year he might not be comfortable in that situation."
Whereas McCutchen hoped to steal a base a year ago, he is convinced that he can do it now. And if any doubt exists in his mind, he has displayed enough discipline to pull back on the reins rather than rely on his speed alone.
"There are times when you can't get a good jump on the pitcher," Beasley said. "Some guys are tough to read. Some catchers are tough to run against. Sometimes you have to respect that."
What excites Beasley even more is that McCutchen hasn't come close to his potential yet.
There's still room for McCutchen to expand his lead off the bag, something he and Beasley have worked on in the last several months. They also have spent much time on the cross-over step, which is crucial to the success of any would-be base-stealer.
"The first step is important," Beasley said. "Andrew has gotten much better at the cross-over step. Most of the time, it's a bang-bang play at the base. If you can get one more step on the lead, that could be the one that determines whether you're safe or out there."
Based on the improvement that Beasley has seen since last season, he believes that McCutchen is capable of something that hasn't been done in awhile.
The last Pirates player to lead the league in stolen bases was Tony Womack in the 1997 (60) and 1998 (58) seasons.
"Sure, why not?" said McCutchen, still only 23 years old. "It could happen this year."
That would be a Max effort, indeed.
END
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