PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – They gave him a standing ovation when he walked into the clubhouse after a 2-1 win over the Mets on Sunday. The magical return of Andrew McCutchen continued with likely the biggest milestone of the season, hit 2,000.
Here is some reaction from the Pirates locker room
"It was really cool," said Pirates pitcher Mitch Keller. "There was big hype around it all series and to have it on a day I was pitching was pretty special. I can always look back and say 'I pitched that game that he got his 2,000th.' That a huge deal. Couldn't be happier for him. He's a great teammate.
He brings the energy. He brings the laughter. Everyone just feeds off of him and it couldn't happen to a better guy.
"We were all really excited for him," said outfielder Jack Suwinski. "We had a feeling that this homestand was going to be it for him and to get that, we were just all pumped up for that."
As McCutchen waited to get that hit, he did so patiently. Not just outwardly, but also at the plate. He walked 10 times in the last six games.
"I think watching him go about his work and go about his at-bats in the game is a lesson to be learned within itself, just watching him," Suwinski said. "He goes up there with the same approach, it looks like, most of the time. He stays pretty quiet but at the same time, he's really aggressive and is able to pull the trigger on the pitch he wants and is able to split on really good pitches, as well."
"Relief a little bit, more for him just because of the fact that he's leading baseball in walks in the month of June," said Pirates manager Derek Shelton. "He came home on a homestand, and we had three really good crowds, and he never really got away from his approach, which I give him credit throughout the whole time. I think a lot of people when they're chasing milestones, start to press. We saw how unbelievable an individual he is because he didn't press and he played the team game."
"I think if you look back, even the Oakland series I think we walked 21 times that series as a team. In this series, we were extremely patient; we made guys work when you see someone of his caliber of player that's chasing a milestone and stay consistent with their approach 100%. There's no better model for young players than watching a veteran player handle himself like that."
"There's less than 300 people in the history of that game that ever did it. I think that in of itself when you see how many people played in the big leagues to, realize how important it is. It was really important that he did it in a black and gold jersey.
