Ok, so it's been only two weeks, but it's been a pretty smooth transition for a player many people on here suggested we wait to introduce next season. It's too early to point fingers or say "I told you so," as much as I'd like to, but I do feel a bit of redemption watching him play so well early.

That said, I have a question for the Stat-heads on here. Would it be crazy to bat Andrew McCutchen 2nd, or is there a prospect of seeing this if not this year maybe next year?

IMO its not farfetched. Even though he's (at least at this point) the quintessential leadoff man, with great speed, good contact and has made improvements on his pitch selection. But one thing that the Pirates lack in this lineup now, and likely next year is whre the RBI's are going to come from. If they go ahead and trade Adam, and potentially Freddy, they'll lose a lot of RBI's (56 to date). While it's not that many, on the Pirates it's a ton.

Cutch historically has a good slugging percentage (many XBH) for a leadoff hitter. Which in my mind suggests that despite his speed he could log some good RBI numbers hitting second over first. His numbers to date:

2009 MLB   .492 SLG   (9 RBI/13 G)

2009 AAA    .493            (20 / 49)

2008 AAA    .398            (50 / 135)

I'd add more if I could access it.

Given the state of the lineup, and until they trade Morgan, I think he'd be a good fit at #2, where he could provide a bity more bang for the buck IMO.