Pittsburgh Sports with a Side of Sarcasm

Someday Andrew McCutchen will be enshrined in a Hall of Fame alongside other Pirates greats like Roberto Clemente, Willie Stargell, Honus Wagner, and Dave Parker. The question is which Hall of Fame(s) McCutchen will be enshrined in next to these all-time Pirates greats. Of course, he will be in the Pirates’ Hall of Fame someday, but has his career to this point been Cooperstown worthy?

As far as the Pirates’ Hall of Fame, that is a no-brainer. He currently sits ninth in games played in franchise history, ninth in plate appearances, ninth in hits, seventh in total bases, seventh in RBIs, fifth in walks, and third in home runs. Considering the long and storied history of the Pirates’ franchise, reaching the top-ten in any of these categories is quite the accomplishment and Pirates’ Hall of Fame-worthy. However, are McCutchen’s stats good enough to make the cut to be enshrined in Cooperstown?

McCutchen recently hit his tenth homerun of the season, making him just the 11^th player in MLB history to hit at least ten homeruns in each of his first 17 seasons. Think about that, there have been approximately 20,955 players to appear in at least one game since MLB began in 1876, but there have only been 11 players to accomplish what Andrew McCutchen did by hitting his tenth homerun for a 17^th-consecutive season.

The other ten players to accomplish this feat are some rather recognizable names: Hank Aaron, Eddie Murray, Carl Yastrzemski, Barry Bonds, Albert Pujols, Frank Robinson, Harold Baines, Mickey Mantle, Jeff Kent, and Willie McCovey.

Of the other ten players on that list, only Kent, Bonds, and Pujols are not in the Hall of Fame. Kent, known as much for his abrasive demeanor as his baseball acumen, did not receive the requisite number of votes in his final year of eligibility in 2023. We all know why Bonds isn’t in the Hall of Fame. Finally, Pujols will surely be elected when he is eligible in 2028. Speaking of Hall of Famers, how does McCutchen stack up against some of others already in Cooperstown?

He currently sits 177^th all-time in hits, right in front of Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt. With just 20 more hits the rest of the season he can move all the way up to sole possession of 169^th all-time. Additionally, his 1129 RBIs place him 203^rd all-time, just four shy of Hall of Famer Joe Morgan. With nine more RBIs he can tie the legendary Tony Gwynn for 199^th all-time in RBIs. For good measure, McCutchen also ranks 310^th all-time in stolen bases and 366^th all-time in on-base percentage.

When thinking of fringe Hall of Famers, meaning players that are in the Hall of Fame, but people argue maybe they shouldn’t be, a lot of people bring up the names of Tim Raines and Scott Rolen. So, let’s compare Raines’ and Rolen’s numbers to McCutchen’s.

	WAR	AB	H	HR	BA	R	RBI	SB	OBP	SLG
McCutchen	49.2	8208	2235	329	0.272	1273	1129	220	0.365	0.459
Raines	69.5	8872	2605	170	0.294	1571	980	808	0.385	0.425
Rolen	70.1	7398	2077	316	0.281	1211	1287	118	0.364	0.49

As you can see, McCutchen has more homeruns and RBIs than both, but Raines and Rolen both have a significantly higher Wins Above Replacement (WAR). Defensively, McCutchen won a Gold Glove in 2012, Raines did not win any, but Rolen won eight! So, if Raines and Rolen are the unofficial minimum standard, then McCutchen is close and it might behoove him to play another season or two. While continuing his career might bring down his career batting average, it will also enable him to continue to climb some all-time lists.

Despite the Pirates having little success during McCutchen’s two tenures in Pittsburgh, there is no doubt that he is an all-time Pirates great. Only time will tell if he will become the 15^th Pittsburgh Pirate to be enshrined in Cooperstown. However, one this is certain. After McCutchen, it will be a long, long time before another player donning a Pirates cap will be eligible for the baseball Hall of Fame.