Ron Cook: McCutchen promises to be the Old McCutchen

Andrew McCutchen, right, jokes with the Reds' Brandon Phillips after stealing second base in the sixth inning Friday at PNC Park.Andrew McCutchen showed up at PNC Park Friday afternoon and immediately said he was the same old Andrew McCutchen after being missing in action for three games. I’m thinking it was a promise, not a threat.

It’s too soon, of course, to tell if McCutchen’s three-day sentence to the Pirates bench this week by Clint Hurdle will bring back the old McCutchen, the MVP-caliber McCutchen, the face-of-the-franchise McCutchen. He went 0 for 2 in a 3-2 win against the Cincinnati Reds but reached base three times on an error and two walks. He stole a base, which was encouraging…