Wearing a black brace to stabilize his inflamed left knee, Andrew McCutchen received pats on his back from teammates Saturday morning as he limped near his locker in the Pittsburgh Pirates clubhouse.
McCutchen knew he more than likely was headed to the 10-day injured list, which meant the Pirates had to find a way to replace not only the hottest bat but the leadoff hitter in their lineup.
“Cutch is irreplaceable,” Pirates infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa said. “No matter what you do, you’re never going to replace a guy like that. So we could go on a run, and it still doesn’t make up for not having him in the lineup. You’ve just got to find different ways to win the game. … But you can’t replace Cutch.”
The Pirates did both Saturday, finding a way to a 7-2 win over the Seattle Mariners at PNC Park with the players they used to replace McCutchen playing a prominent role in the outcome.
The results were better than anticipated: Kiner-Falefa went 3 for 4 and hit his first career leadoff home run while starting at shortstop, and Oniel Cruz served as designated hitter and drew a walk, stole second base and scored on Rowdy Tellez’s homer for a 3-1 lead in the fourth inning.
“I’m not used to the DH spot,” Cruz said through interpreter Stephen Morales. “I’d like to be out there every day, but if that’s what I have to do, I’ll be ready for it.”
The 37-year-old McCutchen had been playing through pain for weeks, so it was only a matter of time before his body broke down. He suffered a season-ending partial tear of his left Achilles tendon in his 112th game last Sept. 4, and Friday was his 101st game in this, his 16th MLB season.
“Well, last September was a completely different injury,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “I mean, we’re dealing with a knee that, for a 37-year-old that’s played the majority of his career in the outfield, there’s going to be some stuff going on.”
"Big shoes to fill... this is his team, his organization. His number is going to get retired here. He means a lot to us."
IKF on filling in for Cutch in the leadoff spot ????????@TheHaileyHunter | #RaiseIt pic.twitter.com/xw2sHfftM1
— SportsNet Pittsburgh (@SNPittsburgh) August 17, 2024
Despite Shelton’s attempts to give McCutchen rest by either using pinch runners on days he played or using him in pinch-hit situations on the days he didn’t start, the Pirates needed his bat in the lineup as they endured a season-worst 10-game losing streak.
McCutchen ranked among the team’s leaders in on-base percentage (.336), slugging (.405) and home runs (16), was batting .367/.459/.700 in August and had an 11-game hitting streak.
“The fact that he was swinging the bat so well, it’s just communication and conversation every day like, ‘Hey, where you at, how you feel?’ ” Shelton said. “The one thing Cutch does a really good job is the days that he doesn’t feel great, he’ll tell me. He’ll be like, ‘Hey, I’m grinding a little bit today.’ And then it’s a conversation of, ‘Hey, you can’t start. Can you hit late? Where you at?’ And then just kind of going from there.”
When McCutchen’s knee finally gave out following a seventh-inning single in Friday’s 5-3 win, Shelton sent Ji Hwan Bae in as a pinch runner and removed McCutchen from the game. Before Saturday’s game, the Pirates announced McCutchen was placed on the 10-day IL, and infielder Alika Williams was recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis.
Shelton said Kiner-Falefa is the most likely candidate to bat leadoff, given his .269/.314/.384 slash line in 111 career games at that spot. Having Cruz at DH gave his bothersome left ankle a rest from the field while keeping his bat in the lineup, even if it was an adjustment.
“First of all, we’ll miss Cutch actually in the lineup. We want him there,” said Cruz, serving as DH for the first time since doing so eight times in 2022. “But it happens that he got hurt. But, it helps, especially deep in the season now that the DH once in a while will help for sure, to give ourselves a little bit of rest.”
On McCutchen’s previous days off this season, the Pirates used outfielders Bryan Reynolds (13 games) and Edward Olivares (seven) and catcher Joey Bart (five) — with catcher Henry Davis and first baseman/outfielder Connor Joe (once each) — in the DH spot. Shelton said he plans on using a committee approach, especially with the Pirates not having another day off until Aug. 29.
“I think it’s important of how the function of your lineup works,” Shelton said. “And now, with Cutch out, too, they become rest days. I mean, we’ve given Bryan a good majority of these because we want to keep him on the field or keep him in the lineup.
“We have the ability to do it with (Cruz). So I think it’s really important during this time that Cutch is down we can also give guys rest days. Because we’re in the middle of what, a 13-game stretch? So it will give us a chance to give major parts of our lineup a blow and then be able to put them back in the lineup.”
Kevin Gorman is a TribLive reporter covering the Pirates. A Baldwin native and Penn State graduate, he joined the Trib in 1999 and has covered high school sports, Pitt football and basketball and was a sports columnist for 10 years. He can be reached at kgorman@triblive.com.
