PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – With a line drive to left field leading off the bottom of the first inning Sunday against the Mets Andrew McCutchen now becomes only the 291st player in the history of Major League baseball, 12th to do it in a Pirates uniform and fifth active player with 2,000 career hits.
McCutchen Milestones
· Drafted in first round in 2005 out of Fort Meade HS in FL
· Singled in his first career at-bat June 4, 2009 off of Mets’ Mike Pelfrey
· 1st career HR of Francisco Liriano (MIN) on June 17, 2009
· 2012 signed a 6-year $51.5 million contract
· June 7, 2012 v Mike Leake (Reds) got 500th hit
· won MVP in 2013
· 1,000th hit off Cubs starter Edwin Jackson on April 29, 2015
· 2018 traded to SF on Jan 15, 2018 for Kyle Crick, Bryan Reynolds and $500,000 international bonus slot money & traded again that year to the Yankees on Aug 31
· May 22 vs Cubs 1500 hit as Pirate
What’s Next
· One double from 400 in his career
· One triple from 50 in his career
· Seven walks from tying Omar Vizquel with 1,028 career walks (112th place) after passing Hall of Famers Rod Carew and Enos Slaughter on Friday
· Five home runs from 300
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Teammates talk Cutch
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“It’s awesome,” said pitcher Wil Crowe who has the locker closest to McCutchen. “Not only does he bring veteran leadership, that moxie he has. He’s a great human. He’s a great family man. He’s a great teammate. That is way better or cooler than him being a great baseball player.”
“It’s been awesome,” said outfielder Jack Suwinski. “He’s been playing this game for a long time. Obviously in this clubhouse we love having him. He’s a great leader and a great influence for us, especially for me. To be able to watch him go about his business and he’s obviously very professional in the way he plays the game. The other thing that is cool it looks like he is really enjoying it too. Being back here and being with this group, it looks like he’s having a lot of fun.”
“The leadership that he’s been able to bring in from his experiences of playing this game,” said Pirates starter Rich Hill. “Highly respected in the room, when he speaks, guys listen. That’s something you don’t often get everywhere from a veteran player all the time.”
“He’s a leader,” said Mark Mathias. “He leads by example. He does things the right way. Just an all-around baseball guy with baseball IQ. I learned a lot from him in the dugout. How pitchers like to throw? What pitches to look for? I learned a lot from him.”
“He knows the right time when we need something. When we need that umph. We need something from the dugout. We need something after a hard loss. He also knows when to let guys do their thing and stand aside.”
“It’s been amazing,” said Pirates OF Josh Palacios. “He’s definitely really funny, lightens the mood. He goes out there and gives everything he has. He has a lot of good insight. I learned a lot from sitting around him in the dugout-what pitches to be looking for, situations where you might want to be stealing, not want to be stealing. He is always dropping out little gems here and there.”