Andrew McCutchen’s sudden end to his season was a heartbreaking loss to both the team and the fanbase. 

A partial Achilles tear taking down the Pirates’ most beloved player in decades for the rest of the season was certainly not the end anyone had in mind for the homecoming season for the 36 year old McCutchen. 

But does that tragic end to 2023 mean the end of his second Pirates tenure? 

Immediately after the news broke of his injury, conversations started about his future with the team. McCutchen is on an expiring contract after signing a one year deal worth $5 million to come back to the place where his Major League Baseball career began. 

And there’s absolutely no reason the Pirates front office shouldn’t bring back the 2013 MVP. 

McCutchen rejuvenated a Pittsburgh market and fan base that desperately needed one, after watching three of the worst Pirate teams in this franchise’s storied history. 

His mere presence holds an endless amount of sentimental value to multiple generations of fans, myself included, who watched him bring the only meaningful games this baseball team has played in nearly 30 years back to Pittsburgh. 

Fans clamored for his 2,000th career hit, which was only right for him to do as a Pirate, and McCutchen jerseys have decked all sections of PNC Park all year. 

He was just one shy of 300 career home runs, and frankly, it would be a crime for him to hit his 300th in anything but a Pittsburgh Pirates uniform. 

He’s the ultimate veteran leader for an incredibly young Pirates team, one that is still in need of one. Yes, Bryan Reynolds is older, and a guy who could perhaps take on a bigger role like that next year, but he doesn’t have the presence that McCutchen does, not yet anyway. 

McCutchen is a proven leader, and for a team that will have more young players joining next year. Not to mention, the return of a healthy Oneil Cruz, who has already and can continue to learn and grow from McCutchen. 

Aside from bringing back McCutchen the person, they also need to bring back McCutchen the player. 

McCutchen was batting .256 before his injury. It’s not spectacular, but that’s still a serviceable baseball player.

More importantly, however, McCutchen had a team-leading .378 on-base percentage. His OPS was third on the team, with .776, literally the tiniest bit behind second place Jack Suwinski at .777, somewhat surprisingly.

McCutchen consistently found a way to get on base even after his bat started to fade out come summertime. He was far and away the team leader in walks, showing his keen eye at the plate is as good as it ever was. 

It does say something about the Pirates rebuild that at this stage, one of the team’s best players and leaders on OBP, OPS, and BB is a 36 year old, but if anything, that is all the more reason to bring Cutch back. The Pirates have no one on their current roster who could replace him adequately. 

The only real downside is that McCutchen has been parked in the DH spot since June, due to a nagging elbow that has hindered his ability to play in the outfield.

Ideally, bringing someone like him back would be contingent on him being more versatile on the roster. Locking up the DH position to just him when he’s in the lineup, especially since the Pirates have shown they like to use a rotation of players in that spot when Cutch isn’t playing. 

But it comes back to the question of who replaces him, and I don’t see anybody being capable of doing that right now. 

Henry Davis, Pittsburgh’s first overall pick in the 2021 MLB Draft, would be an understandable replacement in that role, but it’s clear that the Pirates intend on having him play something when he’s in the lineup.

Initially called up because of his bat, the Pirates opted not to use Davis as a designated hitter, but on the field. Despite that, he was continually denied his natural position of catcher, even before the calling up of Endy Rodriguez, instead routinely being deployed in right field, where he understandably struggled.

The whole conversation around Davis and how the Pirates have used him is an entirely different conversation, but it shows that the Pirates don’t have anyone who can actually replace McCutchen in his role in terms of batting. 

And then, of course, there’s how McCutchen feels about everything. He made the choice to come back to Pittsburgh, he wanted to come back to this team. 

It clearly wasn’t because the Pirates were fielding a World Series contending roster, which helps underscore the love McCutchen has for this team and this franchise. 

At the trade deadline, when there were rumors that contending teams were in on him, McCutchen made very clear he wanted to remain a Pirate, despite the chance to go chase his first World Series ring very much for the taking. 

Cutch’s dedication to the Pirates then is as strong as ever now, vocalizing that he wants to come back and compete in 2024. 

Whether he is blinded by his love for his team or he really believes it, McCutchen believes the Pirates are closer to winning than a lot of fans do, and he wants to be here for it. 

If you’re the Pirates, how do you possibly turn down that kind of enthusiasm from your franchise’s icon? 

You don’t. You can’t.

(Featured photo from Andrew McCutchen’s Instagram account)