Andrew McCutchen

Who says you have to pump iron (or, in these days, pop PEDs) to be a slugger? For goodness sake, Babe Ruth did it on hot dogs and beer!

Power hitters come in all shapes and sizes, from a rounded Prince Fielder to a towering Adam Dunn to a perfectly proportioned Albert Pujols. 

But wait, what about the skinny guys? You know, the ones who frequently take off days from the gym just because they weren't in the mood (we've all been there). 

Surprisingly, some of these players are renowned as some of the best home run hitters in the game. 

The Pittsburgh Pirates haven't had a winning season in two decades, but few deny that they have one of the most passionate fanbases in Major League Baseball.

I would personally love to see a Pittsburgh Pirates player on the cover of MLB 13 the Show. With the announcement that Andrew McCutchen is one of the candidates for the game's cover vote, that thought may actually come to fruition.

Buster Posey has been a grinder for the San Francisco Giants this season, and a player who deserves the National League MVP Award.

Since he broke into the big leagues in 2010, where he batted .305/.357/.505 and ran away with the Rookie of the Year Award, Posey has been an instrumental part of the Giants lineup.

It is certainly a bit of a misnomer to use the term "underpaid" when discussing professional baseball players. With a new league minimum salary of $480,000, even the sixth outfielder and the lefty specialist make more annually than the President of the United States.

With the fantasy trade deadlines coming up this week and next (I have four red-letter dates this Friday), it's time for owners to make one last pitch for baseball's elite categorical contributors.

AccuScore, a company that specializes in thorough game simulations, has made a few on-the-fly revisions to its seasonal projections.

In the past week the Pittsburgh Pirates have extended outfielder Andrew McCutchen and the San Diego Padres have extended outfielder Cameron Maybin.

Over the last decade, there have been many Major League Baseball teams that inspired the feeling for a split second that you could have made a career off that .300 average you carried in the Frankfort Dixie Youth League. 

The Pirates will be making their 2011 PNC Park debut today at 1:30 pm against the Colorado Rockies.

This is arguably the first opener that has had a buzz since the stadium opened in 2001. The Pirates are bringing a 4-2 record home to Pittsburgh.

This team is still a work in progress.

The baseball season isn't even a week old yet. They have only played six games out of 162. The weather in Pittsburgh hasn't even broke 60 degrees yet. We know that.

When people around the Pittsburgh area heard that Andrew McCutchen was going to be batting third in the Pirates batting order, some people were skeptical. He is by far the Pirates fastest player and possibly the fastest man in Major League Baseball.

Wouldn't a guy like this be better if he were batting leadoff?