Curve Join Minor League Baseball in Celebration of Black History Month: Andrew McCutchen

In celebration of Black History Month, throughout February, teams across Minor League Baseball are taking a look back at five of the best Black players to suit up for their club.

While some of these standout performers went on to long and illustrious Major League careers, others simply had great Minor League careers or, in some cases, just one incredible season that went down as “a year for the ages.”

After taking a look back at the careers of LHP Shane Youman and speedster Rajai Davis, we move to one of the most popular Curve players of all time, Andrew McCutchen.

OF Andrew McCutchen (2006-07)

One of the most popular players in Altoona’s franchise history, Andrew McCutchen has gone onto a brilliant major league career with Pittsburgh, San Francisco, New York (AL) and Philadelphia.

Drafted 11th overall in 2005 by the Pirates out of Fort Meade HS in Fort Meade, Florida, McCutchen immediately became one of the top prospects in the organization and overall, in baseball. Prior to the 2006 season, Baseball America named McCutchen the #50 prospect in the minors as he embarked on his first full-season campaign as a professional, opening the season with Single-A Hickory where he was named an SAL All-Star and earned a late-season promotion to Altoona. Reaching Double-A as a 19-year-old, McCutchen continued his dominance at the plate by hitting .308 in the final 20 games of the regular season and aiding the Curve to a fourth straight postseason appearance. Despite being the youngest player to suit up for the Curve at 19 years, ten months and five days, McCutchen picked up four hits in a five-game postseason series with Akron; a series won by the Aeros with a 5-2 decision in the decisive fifth game.

McCutchen returned to Altoona as the Opening Day Center Fielder and immediately put together an All-Start worthy campaign in the Eastern League. Named as a top-15 prospect in the minors by both Baseball America and Baseball Prospectus, McCutchen showed off an impressive power/speed combination with 33 extra base hits and 17 stolen bases in 118 games while batting .258 with a .327 on-base percentage while playing as one of the youngest players in the league. At just 20 years-old, McCutchen was named an Eastern League All-Star and earned a promotion to Triple-A Indianapolis late in the season. Combined in 2007, he batted .265/.329/.388 with 11 home runs and 21 stolen bases. After the season he played for the Phoenix Desert Dogs of the Arizona Fall League and was named a Rising Star and to the AFL’s All-Prospect Team.

After a Futures Game appearance in 2008, McCutchen finally reached Pittsburgh to make his Major League debut after 49 games in Indianapolis to start the 2009 campaign. Following a June 3 trade of center fielder Nate McLouth to Atlanta, the Pirates recalled McCutchen and he singled in his first career at bat off Mets starter Mike Pelfrey to begin a two-hit day at the plate and lead the Pirates to an 11-6 win at PNC Park. McCutchen’s rookie campaign saw him finish fourth in the National League Rookie of the Year voting after he batted .286/.365/.471 with 26 doubles, nine triples, 12 home runs and 54 runs batted in.

McCutchen blossomed into one of the National League’s brightest stars in his nine seasons in Pittsburgh. 2011 marked the first of five consecutive All-Star Game selections, four Silver Slugger Awards, a 2012 Gold Award and in 2013 he earned the National League MVP Award; becoming the first Pirate to claim the award since Barry Bonds in 1992. McCutchen secured 28 of 30 first place votes in the MVP voting batting a sensational .336 from April 30 to the end of the regular season, the best mark in the league. McCutchen was one of three National League players to rank in the top-seven in batting average (.307), on-base percentage (.404), and slugging percentage (.508) and led the Pirates to their first postseason appearance since 1992, defeating Cincinnati in a one-game Wild Card Playoff before meeting fellow NL Central rival, St. Louis in the Divisional Round. The Cardinals pitching staff proved to be too much for Pittsburgh, who could manage only two runs over the final two games of the series, in a five-game series. McCutchen and the Pirates remained one of the NL’s best teams in 2014 earning a second straight postseason appearance, but again ran into elite pitching as San Francisco’s Madison Bumgarner delivered a four-hit shutout at PNC Park to lead the Giants to an 8-0 win over the Pirates in the National League Wild Card Game.

A model of consistency, McCutchen homered at least 20 times in each of his final seven seasons with the Pirates. In nine seasons total in the Steel City, McCutchen batted .291/.379/.487 with 203 home runs in 1,346 games. Prior to the 2018 season, the final year of a six-year contract extension he signed before the 2012 campaign, the San Francisco Giants acquired McCutchen and cash considerations for righty Kyle Crick, outfielder Bryan Reynolds and International Bonus Slot Money.