Hurdle: McCutchen's knee not "a concerning area"

Manager Clint Hurdle said today that Andrew McCutchen’s sore left knee is not “a concerning area right now” and that that he doesn’t currently see the need to take him out of the lineup.“

”I just thought he put in the most athletic performance he has in the outfield the weekend in St. Louis,“ Hurdle said. ”The way he ran in Chicago, even when it was cold. We got our best times, when he was pressed to get down the line, needed to get down the line, we got our best times on him. From an athletic standpoint, I'm not sure that's really a concern right now.“

McCutchen has yet to steal a base this year and is slower down the line on routine ground- and flyouts. Fly balls he might have reached with ease, he has slid for, and he is not beating out grounders the way he used to. He is also hitting .193/.291/.307.

”I think Andrew's already figured out some ways to do some different things“ at the plate, Hurdle said. ”Right now I think physically, I think the more we talk about his physical presence being diminished, I think we're in the wrong direction.“

Of course, there is no benefit to Hurdle acknowledging McCutchen’s injury; other teams can use that information to position infielders and pitch him. But word is out: In this Jayson Stark piece on ESPN.com, a scout offered the diagnosis.

"He's hurt,” the scout told Stark. “... Hitters have to have their legs. He's a great fastball hitter. But when you don't have your legs, the breaking ball is even more difficult to hit. It's hard to trust your hands if you know that when you follow through, your left knee is going to hurt."

Hurdle said the slow runs down the baseline, out of character for McCutchen, were by design, so he could conserve himself for when he got on base or on defense.

”We've all grown so accustomed to that man getting out of that box and that helmet coming off and those dreads flying down the line when he's been healthy,“ Hurdle said. ”I think he's trying to make sure that he's got everything he needs when he plays defense, he's got what he needs when he gets on base. Not that he's not going to run balls out hard, but he's just going to try and use some type of monitoring of that ability to run hard when he has to in a smarter fashion than he has ever had to before.“

***Jung Ho Kang is starting at third base while Josh Harrison, who is 0 for 10 and 1 for his past 23, got the day off.

”For us, it's him getting some separation in his stance,“ Hurdle said of Harrison. ”It's when he goes to that stride position or the launch position, whichever term that you might understand better. It's getting that foot down, holding his backside, keeping his weight where it needs to be. He's had the tendency throughout the season at times where the weight is transferring from back to front and it's almost the term we use, it's kind of like falling into your swing.“

***The Reds have been caught one time in 30 steal attempts this season. Billy Hamilton leads the way with 13. But the Pirates lead MLB with 12 runners caught stealing and have thrown out five of the past nine runners.

”They've only been thrown out once as a team all year, so it's not just our problem,“ Hurdle said.

”We've got to be in a position where we give our catchers a shot. That's been our downfall. If the catcher doesn't have a shot, he doesn't have a shot. If you're 1.4 or 1.5 to the plate, and in some cases, 1.35, your catcher does not have a shot.“

Tonight, with lefty Jeff Locke on the mound, they should have a better shot.