Andrew McCutchen scratched after twisting left ankle, as scuffling Pirates endure injury bug

Andrew McCutchen was going through his normal pregame routine of taking fly balls in the outfield when he went to plant his foot and felt it give, then slipped and awkwardly twisted his left ankle.

The Pittsburgh Pirates made an 11th-hour decision to scratch McCutchen from the starting lineup, where the designated hitter was slated to bat third, for Friday’s 4-0 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays at PNC Park. Afterward, Pirates manager Derek Shelton said McCutchen was not available to play.

“I stood there for a second, and I twisted it enough to know I needed to come to the trainer’s room,” McCutchen said. “I came into the trainer’s room and was basically like, ‘Just tape it up. I’ll deal with it later.’ But they wanted to go through all the, of course, procedures I needed to do. By that time, it was pretty stiff, so I couldn’t go.”

McCutchen’s injury was another setback for the Pirates (20-13), who are dealing with the injury bug amid a five-game losing streak. Infielder Ji Hwan Bae, who leads the team in steals, also injured his left ankle while running out a groundout to second base in the eighth inning Friday and was being treated after the game.

“His ankle grabbed on him as he hit the ground ball,” Shelton said of Bae. “He stopped like probably four or five steps out of the box so getting him evaluated also.”

The Pirates on Friday placed starting pitcher Vince Velasquez on the 15-day injured list after he left Thursday’s 3-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays after the third inning with right elbow discomfort. The Pirates also have a handful of players on the 60-day IL in right-handed starter JT Brubaker, first baseman/designated hitter Ji-Man Choi, relievers Wil Crowe and Jarlin Garcia and shortstop Oneil Cruz.

“Essentially, we’re in a position where we’ve hit a rough patch. It’s the first rough patch we’ve hit in this early season,” McCutchen said. “You can take it as you want. You could take it as, ‘This is tough.’ Or you could take it as it may be good that we’re going through what we’re doing, considering that we had the start that we had. So, it’s just about finding a way to grind and get ourselves out of it, pick ourselves up and get to doing what we do best.

“Right now, we’re grinding, we’re grinding out there and might be just trying a little bit too much, just trying as opposed to just going out there and doing what we do. So, it’ll come and, it’s just do our best, do my best to keep these guys in check and get myself back out there on the field.”

McCutchen hopes his injury isn’t serious and was taking a wait-and-see approach after the game. McCutchen said the swelling, which was localized to one area, was treated and he was able to jump and plant.

“It’s just a matter of it was a last-hour decision, what I could do today,” McCutchen said. “So, yeah, I’m just gonna kind of wake it up and see where we are (Saturday). I mean, I could easily wake up in the morning and be like ‘OK, I feel fine.’ Or, I can wake up and be like, ‘I need another day.’”

McCutchen said he planned to treat the ankle when he got home Friday night to reduce the inflammation. He took the awkward twist in stride, even making a Karate Kid reference.

“Anybody who’s twisted an ankle (knows) there’s no magic,” McCutchen said. “There’s no Mr. Miyagi. You just treat it as much as you can. That’s the best thing to do. I mean, you got the presence of some inflammation, you got to try and get the inflammation out.

“I joked around and said, ‘Just stick a needle in there and get it out.’ I wouldn’t have been opposed if they just stuck a needle in and got the fluid out and I’d be good to go (Saturday). I mean, I’m not playing another 10 years, so I’m just trying to get back.”

McCutchen also revealed that he learned some “old-school” tactics to treat an ankle sprain from his grandparents, though he wouldn’t divulge what type of procedures that entailed.

“I can’t tell you that,” McCutchen said with a sly smile. “It’s legal, though.”