CHANGE IN PLANS
Andrew McCutchen won’t be with the Phillies at PNC Park this weekend, but his bond with Pittsburgh still is strong.
TPHILADELPHIA his weekend was supposed to be another return to PNC Park for Andrew McCutchen.
But when the Pirates return home after a disappointing road trip, the former National League MVP and current Phillies player will be in Philadelphia, watching as his new team tries to win important games to boost its playoff hopes.
“I won’t be making the trip because it’s only been a few days since I’ve been back with the club,” McCutchen told the Pittsburgh Post- Gazette. “My rehab is the most important thing right now, so the plan is for me to stay in Philly. I’m bummed out that I can’t go. It’s best for me to get the rehab done using our facilities here. I hate that I can’t go. I [ have to] wait until next year.”
McCutchen suffered a season- ending ACL injury in June.
At the time, he had 10 home runs and 29 RBIs and posted an on- base percentage of .378.
McCutchen, 32, did part of his recovery from surgery in Pittsburgh, where he spent nine seasons and was a five- time All- Star. He still maintains a home in the area, and he said that setting helped him through a tough situation.
“It had its pros to it. Being at my own house helped the healing process,” McCutchen said. “Being in the comfort of my own house after the surgery was helpful because I was able to lay in my own bed to recover. After a hard day of therapy, having my house to go back to was a good thing for me mentally.”
It has only been a year and a half since the Pirates traded McCutchen to the San Francisco Giants for outfielder Bryan Reynolds and pitcher Kyle Crick, and the team looks significantly different from when McCutchen manned the outfield. That doesn’t mean McCutchen hasn’t been paying attention from afar.
“I still watch the team in passing. I see the team if they pop up on MLB Network,” McCutchen said. “If they’re the game of the week or on the highlights, I check them out. It’s a different team that has a lot of guys I didn’t play with during my time. There are a lot of those guys who were prospects that I knew about before me leaving. I keep up when I see them.”
One of the guys on the roster McCutchen did play with, though, is All- Star Josh Bell.
“I’m happy to see him doing well and performing well,” McCutchen said. “Bell works harder at his craft than anyone I know. It makes you feel [ good] to see someone you played with when they were starting their career do so well. He’s been fun to watch.”
It didn’t take long for McCutchen to see potential in Bell.
“The boy was so big and athletic,” McCutchen said. “He had the right attitude from day one. I remember the first time he got called up, and he hit a double off [ Jake] Arrieta when were playing the Cubs. Then later in the series, he hit a grand slam. I knew then that he had everything he needed to be a special player.”
A lot has been made recently about Bell possibly taking the “Face of the Franchise” role that McCutchen occupied. McCutchen wants that development to be as organic for Bell as it was for him.
“He doesn’t put that on himself. He’s not going to bring attention on himself in that way,” McCutchen said. “He’s a baseball player that plays for the Pittsburgh Pirates who’s going to do everything he can to help the ballclub win. Whoever stamps that on him, that is on them. That’s not him. I didn’t stamp myself as the face of the franchise. Somebody else decides to call me that, and people decided to take it and run with it.”
McCutchen said he and Bell still speak regularly, with Bell asking for advice from the veteran. McCutchen believes that no matter how well Bell does, the first baseman won’t get caught up in individual titles over performance.
“He probably feels the same way. If somebody is going to stamp the face of the franchise tag on him, he’s going to say that he’s just here to play the game,” McCutchen said. “He’s just going to keep going. Even three, four, five years from [ now], he’s going to be the same person that he is — just playing the game.”
As he recovers, McCutchen has gotten to spend some time with another familiar face in former Pirates and current Phillies teammate Sean Rodriguez, who is on the injured list with an abdominal injury.
“We’d both rather be playing. But this time makes our bond even stronger,” McCutchen said. “It’s great having him as a teammate. When he came over, it made me a lot more at ease. I was excited to see him and play with him again. We’ve been through a lot together, and we’ll get through this, as well.”
McCutchen won’t be at PNC Park this weekend, but you can bet he’ll still be well- represented in the crowd.
“It means a lot to me that people still wear my jersey,” McCutchen said. “It was the same way when I was coming up. I’d see Jason Bay and Nate McLouth. I’d even seen some Chris Duffy. You would see these names that weren’t there anymore, and it was because of the impact they had on the city. For me to know and see my name included is cool.
“Even when I was rehabbing back in Pittsburgh, I’d see people ... rehabbing in their McCutchen shirts. It makes you feel good to know that you still have support.”