Andrew McCutchen Reportly Not to Play with the Pittsburgh Pirates until Manager Derek Shelton will leave °°°°

Andrew McCutchen out for season with Achilles injury: Where the Pirates outfielder goes from here

Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen is done for the season after partially tearing his left Achilles tendon. The Pirates are placing McCutchen on the 10-day injured list, the team announced Wednesday. Here’s what you need to know:

McCutchen suffered the injury Monday night against the Milwaukee Brewers while legging out a double.

The 36-year-old is one home run away from No. 300. On June 11, McCutchen recorded his 2,000th career hit.

McCutchen slashed .256/.378/.397 with 12 home runs and 43 RBIs this season, his 15th in the majors.

Where he goes from here

McCutchen, the best player in recent Pirates history, will turn 37 in October. He told reporters Wednesday that he won’t let this Achilles injury send him into retirement. That checks out with everything McCutchen has said this year about not yet being ready to call it a career. He will be a free agent again this fall.

Does he fit the Pirates’ plans for 2024? His performance this season suggests the Pirates should be able to find a spot for him. And there’s an argument to be made for signing him regardless of fit. Why let him go again?

For those who missed the first McCutchen era, he led them to the playoffs in 2013, 2014 and 2015 — their first postseason trips in two decades — and won the 2013 National League MVP, along with three other top-five MVP finishes. The Pirates traded him away prior to the 2018 season, then brought him back this spring on a one-year, $5 million deal.

McCutchen is not the same superstar today he was a decade ago, naturally. But he still provides as much with his bat as he does as a clubhouse leader. McCutchen and his family plan to remain in the Pittsburgh area after he retires, and so it seems only right that he ends his playing career with the Pirates. And not in 2023. —