Andrew McCutchen makes heartbreaking comment about Pirates career that will upset fans

When he sent a first-pitch fastball into the PNC Park bleachers in the fifth inning of Tuesday's game against the Miami Marlins, Pittsburgh Pirates franchise icon Andrew McCutchen joined rarefied air.

It was his 20th home run of the campaign, giving him eight 20-homer seasons with the Pirates. Only Hall of Famer Willie Stargell (15) has more. It was also McCutchen's 319th career homer and 235th in a Pirates uniform, leaving him just five shy of another Hall of Famer by the name of Roberto Clemente.

His career isn't over yet, but McCutchen has already joined Pirates royalty. He's so widely regarded as a franchise cornerstone that sometimes it's easy to forget that he spent half a decade playing for four other teams – easy, that is, unless you're McCutchen himself.

The 37-year-old's name can be found all over the Pirates' all-time lists, but he admitted after Tuesday's game that he can't help but wonder how much higher he would rank on those lists if he had never had to leave Pittsburgh in the first place.

"It's cool, but there's still a sour taste in my mouth with that because I wasn't here my whole career,” McCutchen said (via Alex Stumpf of MLB.com). “It's nice to be able to be with those guys and those greats, it's amazing, but it would be cool if I was here my whole career and then see where I would be at. That won't change things right? It is what it is. It's nice but every time I hear it, I'm like, 'Dang man, if only.' I just go 'cool' and then I just move on."

Amid improbable comeback season with Pirates, McCutchen says he's not done playing yet

McCutchen was a five-time MLB All-Star, 2012 Gold Glove winner and 2013 National League MVP in his first stint with the team that drafted him 11th overall in 2005. An offseason trade in 2018 sent him to the San Francisco Giants, where he spent a little more than half a season before being dealt to the New York Yankees in August. The following offseason, he signed a free-agent contract with the Philadelphia Phillies, where played for three seasons before electing free agency again in 2022.

After McCutchen spent one year with Pittsburgh's NL Central rival, the Milwaukee Brewers, the Pirates decided to bring him home. He was signed to a one-year deal in 2023, but a partially torn achilles last September ended his season early, and many thought it would be the end of his career as well.

But McCutchen defied the odds and came back on another one-year deal for 2024, and he has clearly been a boost to the Pirates' lineup, even at his advanced age. He can technically become a free agent again after this season, but he has a good feeling about the team's current roster and believes they can bring playoff baseball back to Pittsburgh for the first time in more than a decade – and he wants to be a part of it.

When asked what drives him to want to return in 2025, McCutchen's answer was simple:

"Because I can do it."

And if McCutchen's 2024 campaign in Pittsburgh is any indication, we have no reason not to believe him.

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