The Original "Mc" Effect Debate | McLouth vs. McCutchen

The Atlanta Braves are in town, which would normally mean that Nate McLouth is returning to Pittsburgh. However, McLouth is on the DL and won't make the trip. That really puts a damper on my week of Mc-ing, but we're going to go for it anyway.

When McLouth was traded to Atlanta in June of 2009, the Pittsburgh Pirates called up their top prospect, Andrew McCutchen, to take his spot. Let's take a quick look at the two players stat lines since the day of the trade:

McLouth:

Year	Tm	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+
2009	ATL	84	396	339	59	87	20	1	11	36	12	6	47	70	.257	.354	.419	.773	104
2010	ATL	85	288	242	30	46	12	1	6	24	7	2	33	57	.190	.298	.322	.620	69
2011	ATL	48	194	164	25	39	8	0	3	11	1	2	21	33	.238	.332	.341	.673	89
162 Game Avg.		162	593	515	90	129	32	3	19	62	19	3	57	102	.251	.336	.431	.767	103
ATL (3 yrs)		217	878	745	114	172	40	2	20	71	20	10	101	160	.231	.331	.370	.701	90

McCutchen:

Year	Tm	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+
2009	PIT	108	493	433	74	124	26	9	12	54	22	5	54	83	.286	.365	.471	.836	121
2010	PIT	154	653	570	94	163	35	5	16	56	33	10	70	89	.286	.365	.449	.814	120
2011	PIT	44	199	171	26	44	9	2	8	24	7	4	25	32	.257	.359	.474	.832	130
3 Seasons		306	1345	1174	194	331	70	16	36	134	62	19	149	204	.282	.364	.461	.825	122
162 Game Avg.		162	712	622	103	175	37	8	19	71	33	10	79	108	.282	.364	.461	.825	122

It's pretty obvious who the better player has been since that day. I don't think anybody expected McLouth to have outdone McCutchen after 2 years time, but I'm sure most people thought it would be closer than it actually has been.

McLouth has hit .231/.331/.370 and McCutchen has hit .282/.364/.461, not even close. The only category that McLouth has a slip in is strikeouts, and that's a very thin gap (102 per 162 games for McLouth to 108 for McCutchen).

Possibly the best part of this whole deal is that the Pirates acquired Charlie Morton, who has been dominant this year after a really tough 2010 season.

Despite popular belief, Pirates management doesn't do everything wrong.