McCutchen To Get The Call

As a direct result of the Nate McLouth trade, the Pirates will call up their top prospect, Andrew McCutchen. With the Pirates waiving the white flag on yet another season, McCutchen should become the everyday center fielder immediately, and warrants consideration in NL-only leagues for his potential, especially in the stolen base department. As a 22-year-old, it's tough to predict how well he will hit--and no, the fact that he hit pretty well this spring doesn't mean that much to me--but he stole 34 bases last season in AAA. And that was with being caught stealing 19 times. So far this season in AAA, McCutchen had swiped 10 bases (with only 2 caught stealings), so it seems like he could be a 30-SB type in the majors. His hitting line was an impressive .303-.361-.493, as well. In deep NL-only leagues, those that owned--or had owned--Jordan Schafer may want to take a look at McCutchen. McCutchen has a higher ceiling than Schafer and now, obviously, has a big league gig.