BRADENTON, Fla. -- Ke'Bryan Hayes never got to play alongside Andrew McCutchen during the outfielder's first stint with the Pirates. Maybe there was a game that McCutchen started and Hayes entered as a defensive replacement late, but being on the same field at the same time? That had only happened as competitors.
That was until Thursday when the two did some light tossing together at Pirate City. According to McCutchen, Hayes was the initiator and McCutchen was the one to suggest simply, "hey, do you want to go throw."
Cutch and Key, playing catch. If you’re into that sort of thing pic.twitter.com/Z0OUe9uRyo
— Alex Stumpf (@AlexJStumpf) February 16, 2023
A simple catch for the two, a look back at two of the most recognizable players in the franchise's recent history. Not to mention a reunion Hayes was ready to see.
"I’m just super excited about him being here and what he’s meant," Hayes said. "Even when I first got signed just being able to see him and that wave of guys, (Starling) Marte, Josh Harrison, Jordy Mercer. It’s just awesome to bring a guy like that back into the club.”
“I know he feels like he has some work to do,” McCutchen said about Hayes Friday. “I can't wait to play alongside him and help him any way I can.”
McCutchen knew the Hayes family a bit -- Charlie Hayes was an advisor briefly when McCutchen was with the Phillies -- but he has plenty of new teammates to get to know. Gone are Marte, Harrison and Neil Walker. Now it's new faces like Hayes, Bryan Reynolds and David Bednar. McCutchen is a tad out of water after just two days in camp.
"It's cool, just to be able to see everybody trying to get to know everybody. It’s only my second day here, so it's not like I know everybody on a first-name basis here yet," McCutchen said. "I look forward to getting to know everybody and the coaching staff as well."
Those two days are also before the first full team workout, so he can come in a little later on "veteran" time, shag some flies and take some batting practice.
But to be back near his childhood home and with the team he will be forever linked with? To see him swing a bat in black and gold?
Cutch. That’s it, that’s the tweet. pic.twitter.com/XiH8zhbK9F
— Alex Stumpf (@AlexJStumpf) February 17, 2023
“I feel like this is the way it’s supposed to be,” McCutchen said.
Can't argue with that. And for a team looking to take a step forward, who better to help them learn how to win than from the guy who helped complete the last rebuild and usher in three straight trips to the postseason.
Memories of those playoff years are all throughout the Pirate facilities. To get to the clubhouse at PNC Park, for instance, you have to pass multiple murals of McCutchen as an MVP, Gold Glove winner and Silver Slugger winner.
"The thing about having a young group, if you spend any time around LECOM or Pirate City or PNC, there are a lot of pictures of Cutch up from previously when he was here, when the guy wins an MVP," Derek Shelton said. "Cutch made the decision to come back. He did not make the decision to come back because it’s a farewell tour. He really likes where our club’s at. He’s vocalized that. He likes our young players. He thinks we’re in a good spot. I think some of them, maybe a little bit just because they’re young and they grew up watching him play. But I think more importantly they’re excited that he’s part of our group and wanted to be part of our group."
McCutchen has said multiple times since returning that he doesn't think this team was a 100-loss club. There was just too much talent, and the Pirates' performance at home against his Brewers last year probably cost them a playoff berth.
They're young and looking to prove themselves, a flashback to 2006 when McCutchen was in his first spring training.
"I just remember having so much energy and feeling like I needed to prove something to people," he said. "When you’re a 19-year-old, I guess that’s the way you’re going to feel. I was a first-rounder and trying to prove myself to guys you don’t know.
“I just remember warming up and I was skipping and jumping as high as I possibly could. Then we were doing a little running and I was trying to be first. I just remember some guys had smirks on their faces wondering what I was trying to prove. It turned out I didn’t have to prove anything. Just go out and play."
McCutchen feels like he has nothing to prove. This isn't a farewell tour. He wants to win in Pittsburgh again. The clock to do that starts now.
