BRADENTON, Fla. -- Deep breaths, Pittsburgh: Andrew McCutchen's just fine.
Cutch confirmed that for me after the Pirates' 5-2 victory over the Twins in Grapefruit League play Sunday at LECOM Park, this after he'd exited upon being hit by a pitch on the hand in the sixth inning.
"It's all good," he told me.
The pitch was an 89.5-mph sinker from Minnesota's Jeff Hoffman, and it hit the top of Cutch's left hand. Thinking he'd have to take first base, he began striding that way before two umpires told him they ruled it hit the bat. (They were really wrong, as replays would prove.) With that, Cutch went directly to the dugout, where he'd stay until the inning was complete before walking out to the clubhouse beyond right field.
The moment:
Both Derek Shelton and a team press release would say only that Cutch was being "evaluated," but again, the information here came straight from the source. As Cutch would elaborate, "I took myself out."
On another injury front, Jarlin Garcia, a lefty reliever signed to a one-year, $2.5 million contract over the offseason, told me he's scheduled to have an MRI Monday after he experienced arm stiffness Saturday upon getting shelled by the Phillies in Clearwater, Fla. He gave no other indication of his status.
