BRADENTON, Fla. — Andrew McCutchen was the last Pittsburgh Pirates player to report to spring training, an arrival befitting a 15-year veteran who is a five-time All-Star and former National League MVP.

McCutchen took batting practice in the cages with hitting coach Andy Haines on Saturday afternoon at Pirate City. It was a positive sign for the 37-year-old designated hitter, whose homecoming season ended abruptly last Sept. 4 after suffering a partial tear in his left Achilles.

“It’s nice to be back,” McCutchen said, “get back in Florida and, no pun intended, to get back to the swing of things and get acclimated again to get your feet under you.”

Where there was so much fanfare surrounding McCutchen’s reunion with the Pirates after a five-year hiatus last spring, his return on another one-year, $5 million contract this spring appears routine.

Pirates manager Derek Shelton took delight in getting to know McCutchen as one of his players instead of an opponent, appreciating the energy he brings to the team on and off the field.

“On the field, specifically, the way he plays, he’s played like that since he got to the big leagues,” Shelton said. “I can remember coaching against him early in his career, and he plays the game with the same effort, which is unbelievable to watch. More importantly, the way he is in the clubhouse, the smile, the energy he brings, that’s contagious.”

McCutchen slashed .256/.378/.397 with 19 doubles, 12 home runs and 43 RBIs in 112 games last season, emphasized by reaching several career milestones: He recorded the 2,000th hit, 1,000th walk and 400th double but is still one home run shy of his career 300th.

Now, McCutchen is one of seven Opening Day starters back from a team that ended April with a 20-9 record and finished with a 14-win improvement and in fourth place in NL Central standings.

“I think it feels different from the point of, all the guys who were here last year, I see ’em again this year. It’s not so drastic of a change. Not just for me but for the guys around me,” McCutchen said. “I’m sure there was a lot of expectations. Not only from me but from my peers, my teammates, stuff like that. Now that they know me, it makes the clubhouse a little more calm.

“There are expectations for me personally. But, as a team, there are gonna be expectations from us as well. I think it’s more getting to work and knowing what we need to do as opposed to going in with our eyes closed. We have a game plan. We should, at least. We just have to go out and execute and do it. I think it’ll be different in a way that, we know what we are capable of doing.”

Andrew McCutchen on Aroldis Chapman both wearing black and gold this spring: “If someone would’ve told me 10 years ago that you and Chapman would be teammates on the Pirates, I would’ve laughed.” pic.twitter.com/qxhOBnCKEk

— Kevin Gorman (@KevinGormanPGH) February 17, 2024

The biggest change for McCutchen is that a former nemesis, reliever Aroldis Chapman, will be wearing the same Pirates uniform this season. When the Pirates and Reds were fighting for the NL Central lead in August 2012, Chapman hit McCutchen in the upper back with a 98 mph fastball that created even more bad blood between the division rivals.

They first became teammates in August 2018, after the Pirates traded McCutchen to the San Francisco Giants, who dealt him to the New York Yankees at the trade deadline. That prompted McCutchen to share a story about their introduction in pinstripes.

“It was really funny,” McCutchen said. “When I came over in 2018 to the Yankees, I was starving. I was so hungry. Had a long day the day before. I went into this cafeteria to see what I could eat. They had about anything you could think of. I didn’t know what to get. I looked at some of the chefs. They asked me what I wanted. Out of nowhere I heard, ‘Get the sandwich.’ I had no idea who that was. I looked back, and it was Chapman.

“That was the first time as teammates there was any interaction there. He’s a pretty quiet, low-key guy. But I’m sure he’s going to help this team a lot. His stature speaks volumes. He’s gonna help us out a lot. I look forward to playing alongside him.”

Not that McCutchen could have ever imagined they would be wearing the black and gold together.

“If someone would have told me 10 years ago that Chapman and I would be teammates and he’d be on the Pirates, I would laugh. I would have been like, ‘Yeah, right. That will never happen,’ ” McCutchen said. “That would be like me saying I’m gonna play for the Reds. Just didn’t seem to make sense. But now that he’s here, that’s where we are. So many years later. A lot of things have changed since. It’s a new day, guys.”

---

Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)

---