Andrew McCutchen is expected to be placed on the 15-day disabled list by the Pittsburgh Pirates with a severe oblique strain, according to Ron Cook of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
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The reigning National League MVP could miss three weeks to a month according to Cook’s source.
McCutchen was injured on Sunday when he swung at a pitch in the eighth inning that resulted in a sacrifice fly against the Arizona Diamondbacks. He needed to be helped off the field and down the dugout steps after wincing and grabbing his left side.
McCutchen, 27, is hitting .311/.411/.536 with 32 doubles, 17 home runs, 67 RBI, 17 stolen bases and leads the league with 67 walks in 109 games this year as he is outperforming the numbers he compiled last season when he won the MVP.
The Pirates can ill afford to lose McCutchen for any length of time, let alone as long as a month as they are a half game out of the second wild card spot behind the San Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals and trail the Milwaukee Brewers by 1.5 games for the National League Central division lead.
Starling Marte figures to start in center field with McCutchen out for the foreseeable future. He is currently on a rehab assignment and on the seven-day concussion disabled list but is expected to be activated for Tuesday’s game against the Miami Marlins.
McCutchen may miss out on a second MVP award as a result of the injury, but if he can return in time for September, he could help guide the Pirates back to the postseason, which would be his primary goal when healthy anyway.
[Gif courtesy CBS Sports Eye on Baseball]