Cutch returns to game action, ready for Year 16

BRADENTON, Fla. -- Andrew McCutchen jokes that he had a pretty good thing going this Spring Training with his off-field program. Alas, all good things must come to an end, and he finally saw game action Tuesday in the Pirates’ 6-5 win over the Blue Jays at LECOM Park.

“I’ve got a jersey, so I guess I’ll do it today,” McCutchen said before the game.

Joking aside, it was actually the Pirates’ plan for McCutchen to have a slower onboarding this spring. Now 37, McCutchen had his September cut short last year after partially tearing his left Achilles tendon. He’s feeling better this camp and has been doing cage and defensive work behind the scenes. According to general manager Ben Cherington, if the team had let him, McCutchen probably would have knocked out his spring debut about a week ago.

“I think for anybody who cares about the Pirates, seeing him in black and gold out there in the lineup is a good day,” Cherington said.

Add McCutchen to the list of people who were eager to see him get underway. It’s his 19th Spring Training, but some butterflies in the stomach are still a good sign.

“I hope I get them,” McCutchen said pregame, leaning on his bat in a spitting image of what baseball cool and calm looks like. “If I didn’t get nervous, I wouldn’t play anymore. I’d be done and I’d go home. If I wasn’t nervous, it means I don’t care. I’ll still have some jitters.”

After the game, McCutchen confirmed he felt some butterflies. OK. On to year 16.

It’s apparent this is still a game for McCutchen. In his first at-bat Tuesday, he lined a base hit up the middle and flipped his bat on the way to first. It was a spontaneous act -- just about everything he does on the field is spontaneous -- but that’s what makes it enjoyable.

"It's fun, man,” McCutchen said. “You do all the work in the offseason. There's the word 'training' in this: Spring Training. Sometimes we can forget that this is what this is. … I'm just trying to show up, do my work. Trying not to put too much pressure on myself when I'm out there. With that comes the fun. It's good to be back out there, kind of helping guys in the dugout, talking to them about the game, but at the same time staying light-hearted with everything. That's when I play well."

Jones 101
Pirates No. 3 prospect Jared Jones continued to pump heat Tuesday, hitting 100 mph on the radar gun three times and maxing out at 101.1 mph in his two scoreless frames.

Jones said afterwards that it was the first time he’s hit 101 in a game. He can’t necessarily say that he just woke up on the right side of the bed, either, since he woke up with his dog sleeping on his shoulder.

“Gotta do that every time I go out,” Jones joked.

Jones allowed one walk, struck out a batter and did not give up a hit in his two innings, putting him at 4 2/3 scoreless innings this spring.

“It’s been feeling good,” Jones said. “The main thing is going out and competing. That’s what I feel like I’ve done so far. I’m really happy with it.”

Infielders have pop
Oneil Cruz and Liover Peguero both hit their first homers of the spring Tuesday, and No. 9 prospect Tsung-Che Cheng hit his second. Cruz’s homer put the Pirates on the board in the fifth and Peguero’s gave the team the lead in the eighth.

Cruz’s homer was 115 mph off the bat on a pitch way up, per Statcast. And that’s way up on a guy who is 6-foot-7:

“He does stuff sometimes that make you wanna sit back and smile,” manager Derek Shelton said. “I’m glad he’s healthy. That’s probably the most important thing.”

Peguero is in the midst of a roster battle at second base this spring, and a homer like his shows what potential the 23-year-old infielder has.

“Peggy continues to grow into his body, and I mean that in a really good way,” Shelton said. “He’s young and he’s starting to fill out. We saw the power a little bit last year at the end of the year in Pittsburgh, and he continues to get better. He has the ability to impact the baseball and it’s showing.”