PIRATES

Andrew McCutchen says he would like to play an 18th major-league season in 2026. 

But, as the current season winds down, he has to ask himself, in essence: Why?

"The reason I came back two years ago was when I was in Milwaukee (in 2022), go figure, we don't make it to the playoffs," McCutchen explained to me this morning in a one-on-one interview here at Wrigley Field. "I was there and looking at the Pirates, and I was like, 'It's a good ball club, and I feel like they have an opportunity to win.' If I'm gonna go somewhere, if I'm gonna be somewhere where there's a chance of winning, even if I didn't make it, like at least there's a chance. I tried it. I went to Milwaukee because they've won and they've made the playoffs, so I went there to chase that and we didn't make it. Honestly, I got tired of that. If that's going to be the situation, I'd rather be somewhere where I know I really want to be and have the opportunity.

"There's a couple things that I have to talk to myself about and ask myself. So, I don't know. I'm still sitting here going through it and thinking about it right now. Just trying to do my part here, finish the season strong and feel like I should have an opportunity."

McCutchen signed a one-year contract to return to the Pirates in 2023 and has signed one-year deals each year since, hoping to help lead the team to a playoff appearance for the first time since he last did so back in 2015. 

Heading into that 2023 season, McCutchen said he felt there was some promise. But after back-to-back 76-win seasons without playoff baseball, this year has been different. 

"It didn't feel how it felt those last two years prior," McCutchen said. "Why? I don't know. There's a lot of reasons. But I can't necessarily sit here and specify what, but I have to always look at myself first and figure where could I have been better? And there's obviously a lot of places I could have been better. And so I gotta ask myself those questions of, what am I there to play? Why am I there? I want to be there to play, because I love the game, but also love it when there's opportunity to be able to win, and I don't feel like I'm wasting a spot." 

Even at the age of 38, McCutchen has shown signs of being able to hang with the bat. His slugging numbers are down this season, but he's slashing .243/.331/.376 with a .707 OPS to go with 11 home runs and 40 RBIs over 104 games. There's still a lot of ball left to play, but both his batting average and on-base percentage are currently higher than his 2024 totals. 

While McCutchen still expresses a love for the game and a willingness to play, he said he wants to feel confident in his ability to contribute and know that the organization is in the right place where winning could be achieved in the near future. 

McCutchen sees that there's potential within the organization, especially within a pitching staff led by Paul Skenes, Mitch Keller and, when healthy, Jared Jones. The future arrivals of guys like Bubba Chandler and Hunter Barco should help matters, too. 

There's a small window here, but more needs to be done to build an offense that complements the talented pitching appropriately.

"It's there, but there obviously has to be some sacrifice on both ends to solidify that and to really get to that point where it's like, 'Yeah, this is a good squad," McCutchen said. "That's the way it should feel prior to going into the season. That comes with signing free agents, having the right bats in the lineup and giving our starters a sense of having a good team around them that can put up some runs and work day in and day out. There's some things that have to happen, and obviously I would love to be a part of that equation. But you gotta pay to win, because it's not always going to be the team that doesn't spend as much that ends up in the playoffs. Very rarely does that happen. It does happen, but it doesn't always happen that way. For us, it hasn't happened. There has to be that. There can't just be the shot in the dark of 'We hope this happens.' We gotta go out there and make a push."