Hello, and welcome back to Baseball Bash!  There has been no significant news from the MLB as of late.  One thing is for sure though: the hype for the upcoming season is only building.  I am personally looking forward to see how the new rules affect the games and what the overall effect on the season will be.  I know for a fact that it will be a season unlike something we have never seen before   However, there were two stories I wanted to highlight here.  For one, McCutchen is back home!  That’s right, he signed a contract and is coming back to the Pirates where he played since the beginning of his career and until he went to play with the Phillies and eventually Brewers.  Another story is that of Scott Rolen who was just inducted into the Hall of Fame.

First things first, some of the biggest news to come out of this offseason was that of Andrew McCutchen’s return to the Pittsburgh Pirates.

He signed a 1-year, 5 million dollar contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates to return for the 2023 season.  In what will be a homecoming for him, McCutchen started and spent most of his career there, and has an intimate connection with the organization, fans, and the city.  As a baseball fan, it will be quite fun to see him in a Pirates uniform again.

Part of this fun is looking into the past and seeing how he did as a Pirate.  That was his best baseball and what helped lead the Pirates to three consecutive playoff  appearances from 2013-2015.  He had five all star appearances as a Pirate and was one of the best players in the league at the time.  He batted as high as .327 which was the third highest batting average that same year.  It can be seen why he became beloved by the city of Pittsburgh.

Another story as of late has been the one of the 2023 MLB Hall of Fame class.  One inductee that stands out is Scott Rolen for a few reasons.  For one, he is a third baseman and those are hard to find in the Hall of Fame. Third base is the least represented position in the baseball hall of fame, with only 17 others being inducted before him.  Something that was a part of what led him to be inducted was his WAR, or wins above replacement- 70.1.  This was especially impressive given that he was a third baseman.

As a closing thought, spring training for the 2023 season begins in 30 days!  It is crazy how fast time has flown by and we need to only wait a month for more baseball.  This also means that we will be able to see some top prospects in action.  In previous years, we’ve been able to see stars such as Bobby Witt, Jr. and Shohei Ohtani play for the first time in a major way so who will it be this spring training that will be the next big superstar?  It is certainly exciting to think about.  Thank you for reading another edition of Baseball Bash!