Pittsburgh Pirates: All-Time Award Winning Team

PITTSBURGH, PA - MARCH 31: Former Pirate MVPs Dick Groat and Barry Bonds stand with 2013 National League MVP Andrew McCutchen #22 of the Pittsburgh Pirates during Opening Day at PNC Park on March 31, 2014 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)
PITTSBURGH, PA - MARCH 31: Former Pirate MVPs Dick Groat and Barry Bonds stand with 2013 National League MVP Andrew McCutchen #22 of the Pittsburgh Pirates during Opening Day at PNC Park on March 31, 2014 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images) /
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MILWAUKEE, WI – SEPTEMBER 13: Andrew McCutchen #22 of the Pittsburgh Pirates rounds the bases after hitting his 200th career home run in the first inning against the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park on September 13, 2017 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
MILWAUKEE, WI – SEPTEMBER 13: Andrew McCutchen #22 of the Pittsburgh Pirates rounds the bases after hitting his 200th career home run in the first inning against the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park on September 13, 2017 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images) /

Center Field – Andrew McCutchen

From 2009 to 2017, Andrew McCutchen became one of the greatest Pittsburgh Pirates of all time. He took home the National League MVP in 2013, as well as a Gold Glove, and four consecutive Silver Sluggers. His 2012-2015 prime was one of the best 4-year stretches in Pittsburgh Pirates’ history.

During those 4 seasons, Cutch took home all the hardware he would earn as a Pirate outfielder. He put up a .313/.404/.523 line, .397 wOBA, and 157 wRC+. He brought the power, and he brought the speed. He smacked 100 home runs as well as swiping 76 bases. All told, Cutch had a 28.8 fWAR during these 4 campaigns.

Cutch was a top 5 player in baseball during this time. The only batters who surpassed him in wRC+ were Mike Trout, Miguel Cabrera, and Joey Votto. They were also the only players to have a higher wOBA than Cutch. His .926 OPS only ranked 7th but was still just one of 10 qualified hitters with a .900+ OPS. He was also just one of 5 players with an OBP of at least .400. But he and all-time great Mike Trout were the only ones to have both 100+ home runs and 75+ stolen bases.

McCutchen’s tenure will never be forgotten among Pirates fans. He’ll go down in history as one of the Pirates’ greatest outfielders of all time. His 45.7 fWAR is considered the 9th highest among all Pirates position players. As unlikely as it is, it would be fun to see him return to the team in 2022 and climb a little higher on that all-time fWAR list.