The Pirates announced that Andrew McCutchen has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to left knee inflammation, and infielder Alika Williams was called up from Triple-A to take McCutchen’s spot on the 26-man roster. Ryan Palencer of the Bucs On Deck site (X link) was the first to report Friday that Williams was headed back to the majors, after McCutchen was removed from Friday’s game due to left knee discomfort.
While there’s no truly good time for an injury, the knee problem arises at a particularly unfortunate juncture for McCutchen, as the veteran was in the midst of his hottest stretch of the season. McCutchen has hit .281/.375/.483 with four home runs over his last 104 plate appearances, boosting his overall slash line to .235/.336/.405 in 437 PA. That works out to an 109 wRC+ and yet another year of above-average production — now in his 16th MLB season, Cutch has only once dipped below the 100 wRC+ average threshold, as he slowed to a 97 wRC+ when playing with the Brewers in 2022.
Losing McCutchen to the IL is another blow to a reeling Pirates team. The Bucs’ 5-3 win over the Mariners yesterday snapped a 10-game losing streak that all but ended the club’s chances of snagging an NL wild card berth. Even that win was bittersweet due to McCutchen’s injury, which occurred while he was running to first base after hitting a single in the seventh inning.
Apart from handful of appearances in right field, the 37-year-old McCutchen has been utilized almost exclusively as a designated hitter over his two-season return to Pittsburgh. The Pirates will probably just shuffle several players through the DH spot to try and make up for Cutch’s absence, while also giving more at-bats to some younger players in what has suddenly become another evaluation period during the team’s lengthy rebuild. McCutchen can hopefully be back in short order to put a positive coda onto his season and continue to set himself up for another contract in 2025.
