BRADENTON, Fla. -- Andrew McCutchen arrived in Bradenton Saturday in preparation for his 16th MLB season and 11th as a member of the Pirates.
“We’re back, man,” McCutchen said while talking to reporters in front of his locker at Pirate City. “Not officially yet until tomorrow, but it’s nice to be back, get back in Florida, no pun intended, to get back to the swing of things and get acclimated again to get your feet under you.”
An experienced veteran with over 2,000 career games played, McCutchen appeared in 112 games for the Pirates last season, batting .256/.378/.397 with 12 home runs and 43 RBIs. He stole 11 bases -- his highest total since 2018 -- and scored 55 runs before his season came to an end in September due to a partial tear in his left Achilles.
McCutchen, who signed a one-year, $5 million deal to return to the club in December, is expected to once again serve as the team’s primary designated hitter after appearing in 98 games in that role a year ago. He was in right field for eight games.
Derek Shelton said Friday he’d sit down with McCutchen upon his arrival to camp to discuss his workload this spring.
“Yeah, that’s the plan. There’s no point in hitting the ground running and trying to rush into things right now,” McCutchen said. “Obviously, like all of us but me more, I haven’t played in a game since I got injured last season. There’s no point in coming out here and trying to make the team right now. So I’ll take my time, get the load and get some consistency just running and doing baseball activities.”
McCutchen admitted he hasn’t yet done anything pertaining to running the bases or on-field activity, but he feels healthy and hasn’t experienced any issues in his recovery.
“I have been running. I’ve actually been doing football stuff, which is probably a little harder than running the bases,” McCutchen said. “Everything feels good. No problems. I’ll be here, going around bases, doing it a little more consistently and seeing how I respond to it, which I’m sure I’ll respond fine to it.”
In regards to the "football stuff" McCutchen participated in during the offseason, he credits Terry Grosetti, who has also been known to train prospective NFL players preparing for the annual Scouting Combine, for helping him stay ready and in shape through the program.
"I follow that program, of course, with respect to what the Pirates and their training staff need me to do and understand within that window," McCutchen said. "It’s more from an athletic basis, trying to keep getting my feet under me as opposed to running some 60-yard sprints and catching some fly balls. I think it prepares me a little better for all the stopping and things you don’t really prepare for during the season: Running through first base, overthrows, going to second -- stuff like that. You don’t really practice that stuff. It just happens in the game. Sometimes, that’s how we get injured."
McCutchen admits he still doesn't know how he injured his Achilles.
“We can say it was running but most times people don’t really snap their Achilles running. So I don’t really know," he said. "Maybe it was something I had been dealing with already and the running kind of caused it. I’m not sure. So I just try and prepare myself as much as I can. I’m not really doing anything that I haven’t done in the past. I’m just being a little more cognizant of this (Achilles).”
As it was a year ago, McCutchen’s presence will undoubtedly be felt inside a youthful clubhouse that includes just three position players over the age of 30.
Shelton appreciates what the 37-year-old brings to the table both in terms of consistent on-field production and off-the field leadership.
“You know him as the player more from across the field, but getting to know the person, just the energy he brings everyday not only on the field but off the field,” Shelton said. “On the field, specifically, the way he plays, he's played like that since he got to the big leagues. I can remember coaching against him early in his career and he plays the game with the same effort, which is unbelievable to watch. More importantly, the way he is in the clubhouse, the smile, the energy he brings, that's contagious.”
McCutchen reached several career milestones last season, including 2,000 hits, 1,000 walks and 400 doubles. He’s one home run shy of 300 in his career.
Personal accomplishments aside, though, McCutchen wants to win. He believes this team can take that next step, one similar to that of the defending National League champions.
“I’ve mentioned this before, but I’m sure no one expected the Diamondbacks to be in the World Series last year. That’s no shot to the Diamondbacks. Everyone in their projections didn’t have them there. Look at what they were able to do, getting themselves in through a wild card and finding themselves in the World Series,” McCutchen said. “That’s kind of the way that I look at it. I don’t feel like we’re much different than the Diamondbacks in the sense that teams don’t want to play us because we don’t have big names or too many guys who are going to hit 30 to 40 homers; we’re an offense that works counts, we get on base, we use our legs, we steal bases, we can do a better job of moving runners and getting runners in. That’s the game. It’s never changed. It never will.
“If we can be consistent with that and use those things to our advantage, we can make a lot of teams not want to play us. That’s what we did last year the first month. We pitched well, but we executed on both ends. It’s just knowing our strengths, knowing our weaknesses and taking advantage of the things that we can do.”
