While Paul Skenes got much of the attention during the Pittsburgh Pirates’ 3-0 win over the Detroit Tigers on Monday, Andrew McCutchen quietly made history.
After striking out and walking in his first two plate appearances against Jack Flaherty, McCutchen laced a single to center field off reliever Dietrich Evans in the bottom of the fourth. The hit was the 2,233rd of his career, breaking a tie with Pirates legend Willie Stargell for 180th on MLB’s all-time hits list.
Unlike McCutchen, however, all of Stargell’s hits came with Pittsburgh, as he spent his entire 21-year career in a Pirates uniform. He ranks seventh in franchise history in hits, while McCutchen is ninth with 1,748 base knocks (and counting).
McCutchen is in his second stint with Pittsburgh after spending the first half of his career there. He’s in his 12th season with the Pirates and 17th in the big leagues.
The 38-year-old former National League MVP has been a hit machine for nearly two decades. He led the NL in hits (something Stargell never did) in 2012 and is on pace to surpass 100 hits for the 15th season.
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While McCutchen now has more hits than Stargell, the latter actually had a higher batting average (.282 vs. .273). He also had more power, as his 475 career home runs and .529 slugging percentage dwarf McCutchen’s totals of 327 and .459.
While Stargell was a superior hitter, he wasn’t a Gold Glove defender or 20/20 threat like McCutchen. The latter was a better all-around player, which explains why their career WAR totals are comparable.
After passing Stargell, McCutchen needs just one hit to tie and two hits to pass Philadelphia Phillies Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt for 179th on the all-time leaderboard. McCutchen sat out Tuesday’s game against the Tigers but will likely return to the lineup Wednesday and continue his pursuit of history.
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