Andrew McCutchen looks like he has plenty left to give

Despite early season handwringing, there seems to be plenty left in the tank.

At 37 years 8 months young, Andrew McCutchen’s own stated goal of playing beyond this season doesn’t really seem in doubt. He became the active leader in games played earlier this month, yet he looks like a player with a lot left to give.

There was concern after the way he ended last season after returning from a 10-day IL stint for an elbow injury, slugging just .341 (albeit with an OBP of .369) from July 16 onwards before another injury, a partially torn Achillies ended his season on September 4.

Some were convinced, including several people in replies to any article about him this offseason on this website that bringing him back after that was a blunder driven by financial incentive.

I’m sure they felt vindicated by his slow start to 2024. Through April 21, he was hitting .173/.283/.269, although some peripherals like xwOBA and BABIP suggested he was getting incredibly unlucky. A move to the leadoff spot on April 22 seemed to make his luck turn around. Hitting leadoff homeruns in back-to-back days against the Milwaukee Brewers. Since then, he’s hitting .266/.359/.451 with a wRC+ of 130. Including .279/.364/.473 from the leadoff spot. Providing above average offense to a team sorely in need of it.

And he’s really gotten it going of late. In his last 30 games, he’s hitting .303/.388/.508 with 7 home runs and a 153 wRC+.

Among all hitters qualified for the batting title, he’s the only one over the age of 35 in the top 78 for barrel rates. He was at 19th in MLB entering last night’s game but dropped to 22nd at 13.9% because his double at 104.6 MPH didn’t quite have the launch angle to count as a barrel.

He also hit his longest homerun of the statcast era (since 2015) this past weekend, a 448-foot bomb. The furthest hit by a player over 35 this year. Although it did have the benefit of being hit at Coors.

He’s tied for 29th in MLB in xwOBA, his xSLG of .501 ranks 23rd, and his chase rate of 17.5 percent is the fifth lowest behind Ha-Seong Kim, Juan Soto, Kyle Tucker and Jonathan India.

As long as the bat speed and the eye are there, he’ll continue to be a professional hitter.

He just keeps climbing his way up the franchise and all-time leaderboards. He already passed Tommy Leach for 11th in franchise hits (1603), Arky Vaughn for 8th in walks (778), Gus Suhr for 8th in RBIs (789), and at just 20 hits away from Fred Clarke (1638) on the hits list, seven walks (795) and 11 RBIs (801) behind Kiner, he’s extremely well positioned to move up further this season. At 225 Pirate home runs, it seems rather likely he’s going to pass Roberto Clemente’s mark of 240 at some point, although perhaps not this year.

With his 300th career homerun earlier this season, he entered a group of just 19 players in MLB history to amass 300 home runs, 200 steals, and 2000 hits.

Nine of the 18 are hall of famers, four were not voted in because of their ties to steroid use, and Carlos Beltrán will likely be headed to Cooperstown himself at some point.

Of that group, no player with a career OPS+ over 118, who is not part of the four left out for ties to steroids, has not been inducted into the hall of fame. McCutchen’s career OPS+ is 127.

He’s climbed 21 spots this year on the all-time total bases leaderboard from 184th to 163rd, passing six hall of famers. Currently at 3,546, his next 17 bases will see him rise another four spots. Passing three more members of the hall.

I’ve doubted McCutchen at various points in his career, I’ve been wrong every single time. I thought his career would wind down after the ACL tear in 2019 and that his legs would be gone. It was his second surgery for an ACL injury after all. I was wrong. McCutchen posted above average sprint speeds deep into his 30s post injury. I thought there wasn’t much left in the tank when he posted a sub 100 wRC+ with the Milwaukee Brewers in 2022 for the first time in his career. I was wrong again. It had to be beaten into me, but eventually I got the message that I just shouldn’t question him. I’ll believe he’s done, when he says he’s done.

This Saturday, the promotional giveaway will be an Andrew McCutchen bobblehead. Not as a going away party, or the last chance for out-of-town fans who only attend a game or two a year to see him live. Just the team promoting one of its best players.

I hope to be there Saturday, section 113, row N, seat 4. You’re welcome to come say hi if you’re in the area.