Over the course of his storied profession, Andrew McCutchen has stood there and watched ball 4 go by 1,075 instances. I watched one thing like 750 of these pitches on Thursday, after which I reduce them down into supercuts. I hope to God I by no means to see one other ball 4. I used to be awaiting one thing particular. I seen the opposite day that McCutchen flips his bat lots, which caught me off guard. In the event you’re a Pirates fan, I’m positive you realize precisely what I’m speaking about, however I believe folks outdoors Pittsburgh is likely to be startled by it, too. In spite of everything, McCutchen is a veteran who tends towards a extra conventional taking part in model. That’s to not say that he performs with none aptitude or that he doesn’t have a humorousness (he positively does), simply that he’s on the staid aspect of issues. Actually, in October of 2017, McCutchen tweeted his disapproval of the pattern.
The problem isn’t that McCutchen has essentially modified his thoughts. He doesn’t actually flip his bat when he hits a house run. He’ll do it on uncommon events, however more often than not, he handles his homers with a quiet cool. He finishes his residence run swing one-handed, with the bat held low, and he merely drops the bat head towards the bottom and lets go of the deal with in a clean continuation of that transfer. It’s a traditional look, and although it’s exhausting to think about that McCutchen doesn’t know he appears to be like cool whereas he’s doing it, it doesn’t come off as an affectation.
As a substitute of residence runs, McCutchen flips his bat when he earns a stroll. I’m not the one particular person to note this. A Ke’Bryan Hayes fan account began a Twitter thread of McCutchen’s bat flips again in Might of 2023, including a video every time he did it for the following two weeks. In July, the Pirates posted a compilation video on TikTok with the caption, “Both pitch to Cutch or threat getting bat-flipped on.” If you consider it, for somebody who actually loves bat flipping, the stroll is the proper time. To begin with, nearly everybody walks extra usually than they homer, which implies extra probabilities to social gathering. Second, whereas a stroll is nice for the batter and dangerous for the pitcher, it’s not a sufficiently big deal that the pitcher will really feel such as you’re rubbing their nostril in it. Third, nothing is predicted of the batter after a stroll. There’s no threat of flipping your bat dramatically after which realizing that it is best to have been operating across the bases as a result of the ball isn’t carrying such as you thought it could.
That mentioned, McCutchen does flip his bat after a stroll so constantly that he truly runs into an identical drawback. On shut pitches, he positively desires to flip his bat. But when he isn’t positive whether or not he’s going to get the decision, he’ll feign confidence by beginning towards first base. Nonetheless, the bat belies his obvious certainty. Moderately than tossing it as he usually would, he merely carries it with him in case the pitch is dominated a strike and he’s known as again to the plate, generally hunching over a bit like a child who’s afraid he’s about to be yelled at. As soon as he does get the decision, he finds himself trapped within the tiny farce created by his false confidence. It’s too late to toss the bat, so he merely walks over and arms it to the bat boy as if that was his plan all alongside. If his staff is within the third base dugout, there’s no bat boy to obtain a handoff, so McCutchen merely takes sufficient steps to make it seem to be he wasn’t awaiting the result of the umpire’s name, then stops and bends over, as if the purpose of the little jaunt was to put the bat in a sure location, like there’s this tremendous cool patch of grass he seen earlier and thought the bat would actually take pleasure in it.
McCutchen didn’t begin his profession flipping his bat throughout walks. I do know this as a result of I watched each ball 4 that McCutchen took from 2016 to 2024, after which I went again additional. As a result of walks don’t often make spotlight reels, I scoured YouTube for full-game movies of Pirates video games from 2009 to 2015. When I discovered one, I’d verify our recreation logs to see whether or not McCutchen drew a stroll that day. If he did, I’d verify Baseball Reference’s play-by-play web page to see when within the recreation it passed off, then I’d skip across the video till I discovered it. All of that is to say that I’m wanting ahead to having a pleasant, lengthy relaxation this weekend. Right here’s the second stroll of McCutchen’s massive league profession, an intentional stroll, together with one minor bat flip that he did in 2010. It was the one actual instance of a bat flip that I might discover earlier than 2015.
Watching all these movies, I began to wonder if the individuals who make McCutchen’s bats are conscious that he treats them so roughly. Absolutely bat makers will need to have some opinion concerning the product they work so exhausting to design and manufacture. I made a decision to name Louisville Slugger to ask about it. “You already know, I don’t know,” mentioned a really good girl named Linda. “You’ve reached our bat guarantee division.” Apparently, the principle quantity on the Louisville Slugger web site sends you to the flawed particular person fully. Oh properly. There’s positively one bat firm that doesn’t thoughts: Chandler bats, which is owned by famous bat flipper Yoenis Cespedes.
Alternatively, I additionally seen that McCutchen doesn’t appear to be excited by exhibiting the pitcher up in any respect. He doesn’t look out on the pitcher or again on the catcher. He’s additionally conscientious about his bat flipping. Even when he tosses the bat fairly far, he goes out of his option to toss his shin and elbow guards to the identical spot in order that the bat boy who has to choose every part up doesn’t must make a number of journeys. For McCutchen, I think about it’s a bit like a recreation of bocce. Toss your bat, then attempt to land the physique armor proper subsequent to it.
Nowadays, McCutchen flips his bat always. Over the remainder of this text, I’ll take you thru how, over time, his craft has blossomed into one thing actually spectacular. In the event you’re sufficiently old to recollect Dave Winfield, you additionally do not forget that he was the participant most definitely to make you notice {that a} baseball bat was a mere piece of wooden. In his huge arms, and subsequent to his 6’6” body, the bat appeared like a toothpick. Right now, McCutchen is the participant most definitely to remind you that the bat as soon as was and shortly once more will probably be nothing greater than kindling. Not like Winfield, the 5’11” McCutchen doesn’t achieve this by advantage of sheer mass; he does so by executing his bat flips so usually, so effortlessly, and with a lot model that you just begin to assume that the remainder of the sport is incidental to the tossing of the lumber. He’s always including to his arsenal, and after 11 years within the massive leagues, he could make all of the throws. Like all true artist, McCutchen is continually taking part in with the shape, always reinventing himself. It looks as if annually he comes up with one other option to toss the bat, one other option to reinvigorate the act and maintain would-be rivals off his tail.
Even earlier than he began flipping his bat usually, McCutchen liked to make a meal of inside pitches, dramatically tossing his bat any which method every time the ball felt shut sufficient that he might fairly justify some histrionics. The primary of those clips is from all the way in which again in 2011.
When McCutchen was actually feeling theatrical, he wouldn’t simply dodge the ball and toss the bat away. He’d carry it clear over his head and toss it in a single movement, letting it land proper behind his toes, like he was making an attempt to determine tips on how to to the alternative of chopping wooden.
In 2016, McCutchen began bat flipping ball 4 in earnest, however just for a short time. You know the way generally you employ a curse phrase and it simply feels superb, so then for the following week you go on bender, cursing far more than you’ll usually? McCutchen received caught up within the bat-flipping equal of cursing for a restricted time. In August, he began taking part in with a bat flip of his personal invention. As he began towards first base, McCutchen would toss the bat a number of inches within the air along with his left hand, then swat it towards the dugout along with his proper hand. I name the transfer the Ping Pong Serve.
Nonetheless, he shortly stopped flipping his bat by the tip of the month. By the September got here round, not solely was he now not flipping his bat, he gave the impression to be taking nice pains to place it on the bottom as softly as humanly doable. He would gently place the bat behind him, touching the top to the dust first, then bending over to drop the knob from the bottom peak he might. Given the remarks he’d make the next season, while you watch the tape, it virtually appears to be like like he’s making an attempt to atone for the sins of August, like every further ounce of care is an act of penance in a model new, bat-based faith.
In 2017, the yr he demanded that the sport purify itself from the insidious corruption of bat flipping, McCutchen practiced what he preached. I’m not going to point out you any video, as a result of all the season would simply be a montage of McCutchen gently putting his bat on the bottom. He did flip his bat a pair instances throughout one highway journey in Might, however other than that, he actually did stroll the road. Nonetheless, he additionally appeared to sow the seeds of his future flips. He began flicking his bat head downward shortly, solely to sluggish himself down and lay it gently on the bottom. The present flip is seemingly only a continuation of this ancestral ur-flip.
Every little thing modified in 2018. It was a yr of upheaval for McCutchen. Moderately than let him stroll on the finish of the season, Pittsburgh traded him to San Francisco in January. However the Giants by no means even reached three video games above .500 they usually flipped McCutchen to the Yankees on the deadline. Initially of the season, McCutchen was on his finest habits. Maybe he was making an attempt to make a great impression on his new metropolis, or maybe after so a few years as a Pirate, he was relishing the prospect to lastly dwell on the proper aspect of the legislation. Both method, as soon as he took ball 4, he positioned the bat on the dust with the identical loving care you’d use to put a new child child on the dust, if that have been a factor that individuals did. After which on the finish of April, with the Giants mired 5 – 6 video games again within the division, he had one other quick bout of the flips. Nonetheless, he largely recovered his decorum after a number of weeks, and went again to babying the bat.
In August, one thing snapped. Proper when the Giants fell all the way in which to twenty video games again within the NL West, McCutchen’s true bat flipper lastly got here out. He was shoving the bat towards the primary base dugout and flipping it behind him towards the third base dugout, effortlessly sending it pinwheeling throughout the sector like, properly, a pinwheel I assume. The bat flips grew much more intense in New York. Andrew McCutchen was formally a bat flipper. Under is each ball 4 he took in 2018 in chronological order. You possibly can watch him begin out subtly, dabble at nighttime artwork of bat flipping solely to again away, chastened, then lastly bounce in with each toes.
McCutchen signed with the Phillies in 2019, and though accidents restricted him to simply 59 video games, he ran a career-high 16.4% stroll charge and flipped his affected person coronary heart out. He additionally picked up a brand new signature bat flip, going all in on a transfer he’d began utilizing with the Yankees the yr earlier than. In a motion that’s much like taking pictures craps, McCutchen would merely shove the bat straight out towards the primary base dugout with little to no spin on it. As a result of he was merely pushing the bat, it wasn’t actually tumbling, and the viewer was actually in a position to admire the way in which it landed with a satisfying bellyflop thud.
Through the quick 2020 season, McCutchen began including just a little little bit of English to the toss, backspinning the bat simply sufficient that it could rotate 180 levels, and subsequently getting the most effective of each worlds: tumbling finish over finish whereas nonetheless touchdown flat with a thud.
McCutchen continued added to his bag of tips in 2021. These tips additionally began getting extra showy. First, he’d drop the bat all of the sudden after taking a borderline pitch. It’s a present of bravado that shares some DNA with the Soto Shuffle: I’m so sure this pitch goes to be known as a ball that not solely am I going to place down the bat and head to first base, I’m going to mic drop it. By the way, he additionally did this as soon as in 2010, lengthy earlier than his bat flipping days started.
Second, he began flipping the bat a shorter distance, generally a yard or two previous the left-handed batter’s field, generally straight into the field, proper in the meanwhile ball 4 handed him by. He was particularly keen on doing so when the pitch was inside, proper underneath his arms. Of all of the bat flips in his arsenal, this is likely to be the one that might most simply be construed as exhibiting the pitcher up. Though it’s not as fancy or theatrical, McCutchen tosses the bat straight in entrance of the eyes of the catcher, pitcher, and umpire with an alacrity that calls for consideration. Generally the catcher is about to throw the ball again to the pitcher, and has to cease his movement so as to keep away from hitting the bat. Initially, McCutchen would type of push the bat upward with each arms, like a cartoon character who’s carrying a stack of presents too massive and unwieldy to set down, so they simply tumble all of them onto a chair.
Later in 2021 and thru 2022, McCutchen began getting a bit extra distance on the toss and releasing the bat extra shortly. On inside pitches, he’d rotate away from the pitch, then flip again and launch the bat in the identical movement, as if turning away from the pitch was truly simply the loading mechanism for his bat toss. It’s a bit foolish, making an attempt to show a defensive response into one thing that appears deliberate and pure, however it’s additionally one of many ways in which nice athletes make even probably the most mundane acts look sleek. The actual grace, although, belongs to the bat, which hits the bottom and dances with the hypnotizing unpredictability of a kite within the wind.
Final season was the massive yr, as a result of McCutchen was again with the Pirates. In Pittsburgh, the house dugout is on the third base aspect, and since the customer’s dugout is on the third base aspect in most different stadiums, the overwhelming majority of the time he might execute what turned his signature transfer: flipping the bat behind him with a snap of the wrist. McCutchen had been working towards this for years, beginning in 2016. This supercut, which is roughly chronological, reveals McCutchen honing this ability over time. He wasn’t but a grasp. Generally he’d try and flip it along with his proper hand reasonably than his left, to blended outcomes.
McCutchen actually perfected the transfer final yr, flicking the bat with informal disdain and a stunning mixture of velocity and spin. Generally he wouldn’t even look behind him as he threw it. Generally he’d emphasize the wrist movement on the final second like a basketball sharpshooter holding their type after a pure three pointer, imparting an additional jolt of backspin.
Sending the bat flying out of the body, it tumbles throughout the sector like Ozzie Smith on Opening Day, eliciting very practically the identical quantity of pleasure. It’s a factor to behold. Sometimes, he turns the bat at an angle, in order that reasonably than tumbling, it helicopters its method towards the dugout.
And that almost brings us updated. Under is a supercut of all of McCutchen’s walks from this season. He hasn’t proven something utterly unprecedented simply but. We’ll simply must see what improvements he brings because the season progresses.