Meet Andrew McCutchen, the frontrunner for National League MVP. The 25-year-old is batting .371 with 21 home runs, 64 RBIs and a .423 on-base percentage. McCutchen leads baseball in batting average, slugging percentage and OPS.

The 11th overall pick of the 2005 MLB draft hit .300 in April, .360 in May, .370 in June and sports a .537 average in July. Over his last ten games he has more home runs (six) than strikeouts (five). The center fielder is also on pace for 26 stolen bases this season.

McCutchen is the reason the Pirates are 49-39 this year and not somewhere around .500 with the arms to compete but no bats to be found. Despite McCutchen’s torrid offense, Pittsburgh remains second to last in on-base percentage, 23rd in batting average and 20th in runs scored. He is the straw that stirs the black and yellow drink.

The NL Central may be the butt of jokes around baseball, but McCutchen and Pittsburgh and Cincinnati and their leader Joey Votto will make for some of the most exciting September ball. The Pirates trail the Reds by one game and if they Pirates can add a semi-significant bat before the deadline look for them to surpass the Reds and win the NL Central for the first time.

The Big Guy