Pirates Andrew McCutchen collects 2,000th career hit vs. Mets

May 27, 2024

PITTSBURGH — Pirates standout Andrew McCutchen collected hit No. 2,000 in Sunday’s 2-1 win with a single in the first inning off Mets right-hander Carlos Carrasco. Here’s what you need to know:

McCutchen is the fifth active MLB player to reach the threshold. The top four are Miguel Cabrera (3,110 hits), Joey Votto (2,093), Nelson Cruz (2,043) and Elvis Andrus (2,027).
McCutchen is the 291st player to join the 2,000-hit club, per the Elias Sports Bureau.
He got his historic hit 14 years and eight days after notching his first career hit, also against the Mets.

This moment is everything 💛 pic.twitter.com/53yrnjJNwt

— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) June 11, 2023

McCutchen mulls a milestone

What he’ll do with the baseball: “I really haven’t thought about it because I’m not done (playing) yet. If I can get to 2,000 hits, I can keep going.”

His rebound this year after a couple of down seasons: “It lets me know that all the work I’ve been putting in every day, every year, every offseason is worth it. (The ability) is still there. It’s not, ‘Oh, he’s slowed down a bit.’ The heck I have. I know I’m better than what I’ve done (recently), and it’s showing. I’m just playing the way I know I can play it.”

It helps being back in Pittsburgh: “I never felt all the way comfortable on the other teams I was with. I didn’t have an opportunity to really settle in like I did here. Having that familiarity is very beneficial for me. Small things like that help keep me stay on top of my game. And at the end of the day, I’m home. There’s nothing like being home.”

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From hit No. 1 …

McCutchen came to Pittsburgh for the first time a few weeks before the 2005 MLB Draft, when the Pirates invited him to a tryout at PNC Park. A senior at Fort Meade (Fla). High, McCutchen had already committed to the University of Florida, but something his father, Lorenzo, told him years earlier stuck with him.

“Dad asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up,” McCutchen recalled in 2015. “Every kid wants to be something huge — a firefighter, a doctor, a professional (athlete). Something big. He told me, ‘Go after it. Stick with it. It’s not going to be easy, but we’ll help you along the way.’ He always gave me the willpower to do whatever I wanted to do.”

The Pirates drafted McCutchen with the 11th pick and he signed for a $1.9 million bonus.

On June 3, 2009, the Pirates traded center fielder Nate McLouth — an All-Star and Gold Glove Award winner who four months earlier had signed a three-year, $15.75 million extension — to the Braves for three prospects. The next day, McCutchen made his big-league debut in center field against the Mets.

He led off the bottom of the first inning with a single to center field off right-hander Mike Pelfrey. McCutchen went 2-for-4, scored three runs and stole a base in the Pirates’ 11-6 victory.

… to No. 2,000

Fans at PNC Park booed on Saturday when Mets starter Kodai Senga pitched carefully to McCutchen, who went 0 for 3 with a walk. Sunday, however, there was nothing but cheers as McCutchen quickly took care of business.

Leading off the bottom of the first, McCutchen fouled off Carrasco’s first pitch, a 93 mph fastball. McCutchen took a slider for a ball, then lined another slider into left field for a clean single.

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What’s next for Cutch?

McCutchen did a good job handling the run-up to his milestone hit, never appearing to get flustered or rushed at the plate. Now that he’s past it, could McCutchen fall prey to a letdown?

“Of all the guys I’ve been around, he is the one I’ve been least worried about because of the way he handles things,” manager Derek Shelton said. “He does not change. He’s a joy to be around. I don’t expect there’ll be any peaks and valleys with it at all.”

Other milestones are within his reach. McCutchen is one double shy of 400, one triple shy of 50, five home runs short of 300 and 18 total bases shy of 3,400.

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Backstory

McCutchen, 36, spent his first nine seasons (2009-2017) with the Pirates and collected 1,463 hits. He was traded to the Giants in January 2018 and later played for the Yankees, Phillies and Brewers. McCutchen rejoined the Pirates in January on a one-year $5 million contract.

The next player to reach 2,000 likely will be either Freddie Freeman (1,990 hits) or Jose Altuve (1,951).

Required reading

(Photo: Charles LeClaire / USA Today)

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