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Dunlap: Something Has To Give With Cutch

PITTSBURGH (93-7 The Fan) - This ain't the Cutch we know.

This ain't the Cutch we are accustomed to.

This ain't the Cutch the Pirates need right now.

There is no denying Pirates superstar centerfielder Andrew McCutchen must do better. He's mired in a funk where he's struggling to be an average hitter, let alone one of the finest in the game. And we all know he can be one of the finest in the game; he's showed it throughout his brilliant career.

There is also no denying we've come to grips that this is a funk. We've talked that part of it to death.

Is he hurt?

Is he just struggling?

Is he hurt and pressing some, thus that has led to his struggling?

Is he struggling a little bit, pressed too much, thus it has led him getting hurt?

Who knows?

And at this point, it really isn't the most important thing right now.

What is most important is the decision manager Clint Hurdle has in front of him as the Pirates have the rest of Thursday off before spending this weekend playing in Oakland, next week with four games in St. Louis and then back home for three games next weekend against the universe-leading Cubs.

After that, the All-Star Break hits.

But a decision looms. And pretty much an immediate one.

McCutchen will close June hitting .202 in the month with a .255 on-base percentage and enter July with hits in only 6 of his last 34 at bats.

He went 0 for 5 in a game Wednesday night, looking completely out of sorts in Seattle.

So does Hurdle sit down with him and try to talk McCutchen into a 15-day disabled list stint that would take him through --- and just past --- the All-Star Break? That seems like a bit of a stretch knowing the competitor McCutchen is and understanding how much he loathes missing games, but it just could be the recipe to get this all righted. It could also be the correct move if, in fact, that thumb or something else is amiss health-wise with Cutch.

Does Hurdle go with an abbreviated rest period? Say, something like giving McCutchen the Oakland series off --- and telling him beforehand the prescription is exactly that --- in an effort to see if he will recharge and be full-go for that important head-to-head, four-game matchup with the Cardinals and then those games with the Cubs?

Or does Hurdle employ a strategy akin to what some basketball coaches use with a jumpshooter? In short, that the only way a good jumpshooter who has gone cold will ever regain a hot streak is to keep letting it fly. That is to say, in this instance, keep penciling McCutchen into that lineup and, even though his season average never hit the .260 mark in the month of June, he's just too good for this to continue. Yep, that eventually Andrew McCutchen will hit his way out of this malaise. That's a risky proposition, but it is one Hurdle could consider.

Who knows what's wrong with our dear Cutch.

If it's an injury. If something else is bothering him. If he's just hit a rough patch. If he is having some back luck. If it's a combination of some or all those things.

All I know is the obvious has come to the surface: Cutch isn't being Cutch.

And at this point, the most important component has most likely turned into how Clint Hurdle handles the situation to try to facilitate Cutch being Cutch again.

Colin Dunlap is a featured columnist at CBSPittsburgh.com. He can also be heard weekdays from 5:40 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Sports Radio 93-7 "The Fan." You can e-mail him at colin.dunlap@cbsradio.com. Check out his bio here.

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