Andrew McCutchen, the star player for the Pittsburgh Pirates, will be out for the rest of the season due to a partially torn Achilles tendon. He sustained the injury while running to second base for a double during a game against the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday. Initially, McCutchen thought he was fine and even tweeted about it, but later it was determined that he would need to wear a walking boot for six weeks. There is no information yet on whether surgery will be necessary, but McCutchen expressed his disappointment in a follow-up tweet, saying, “Dang this sucks.”
McCutchen, who will turn 37 in October, returned to the Pirates on a one-year contract. In the 112 games he played this season, he had a batting average of .256, an on-base percentage of .378, and a slugging percentage of .397. He hit 12 home runs, drove in 43 runs, and stole 11 bases. According to Baseball Reference, his contributions were worth around 1.4 Wins Above Replacement.
Despite his injury, McCutchen has not hinted at retirement. He has stated that he will continue to play as long as the Pirates want him on their team.
“I’m not done,” he said during an interview with reporters earlier this summer. “Tom Brady said he would stop playing when he (stunk). I don’t want to put it in the same context, but when my body tells me I’ve had enough, then I’ve had enough. My body is still saying, ‘Nah, you’re good. You’re fine.'”
It remains to be seen if McCutchen will consider his partially torn Achilles as a sign that he should retire.
McCutchen, who won the National League Most Valuable Player Award in 2013, has played in over 2,000 professional baseball games. He has hit 299 home runs and has a total of 48.5 Wins Above Replacement. While a player generally needs to exceed 50 WAR to have a good chance at being inducted into the Hall of Fame, there are exceptions to this rule.
