Wearing a protective boot on his left foot, Andrew McCutchen was frustrated that a season that started with roaring ovations for his return to the Pittsburgh Pirates ended with him limping off the field.

The Pirates placed McCutchen on the 10-day injured list with a partial tear in his left Achilles tendon, an injury suffered Monday night while sprinting to second base on a double in the fifth inning of a 4-2 win over the Milwaukee Brewers at PNC Park.

“It’s pretty disappointing, especially when it wasn’t necessarily something that I expected before I got the news,” McCutchen said before Wednesday’s game. “It’s disappointing, sad. You don’t ever want to feel like something is stopping you from going out there and playing.”

‘It’s pretty disappointing’: Andrew McCutchen discusses his season-ending partial tear in his left Achilles pic.twitter.com/lBAV55iujm

— Kevin Gorman (@KevinGormanPGH) September 6, 2023

McCutchen pronounced himself “fine” after Monday’s game — even posting as much on social media — before being examined by the team’s orthopedic hand, foot and ankle specialist and having additional imaging ordered. That’s when the partial tear was discovered, Pirates director of sports medicine Todd Tomcyzk said.

“Physically, I feel the same. I don’t feel any different, honestly,” McCutchen said. “I guess the mental part of knowing now, you’re a little more cognizant of what’s happening or what you feel. Still feel relatively the same since the last time I was out there on the field. That in itself is what propelled me to tweet that I was fine. I felt fine. It wasn’t like a thing to where I felt like something was wrong.

“Initially, something felt a little off. After some time, I was OK. Woke up the next day, still felt good. It feels the same. Once you see what it looks like, it’s something different than what you feel. I’m gonna try and keep that mental space as much as I can to tell myself that I still feel OK and feel fine. Let the body take care of it.”

Tomczyk said it would “be a challenge” for McCutchen to play again this season, as he will need to wear the protective boot for six weeks. That timeline effectively rules out any chance of a return for the final three weeks of the season, leaving McCutchen one home run shy of the 300th in his 15-year major-league career.

“If it was up to Andrew, he would want to push his envelope,” Tomczyk said. “I think you all know Andrew well enough that if this was solely up to Andrew, that’s something that he would want to do. But the information that we have right now, it’s not in his best short- or long-term interest to do that.”

The 36-year-old McCutchen batted .256/.378/.397 with 19 doubles, 12 home runs and 43 RBIs while serving as designated hitter in 98 of his 112 games, leading the Pirates in on-base percentage and walks (75). He surpassed several career milestones, reaching 2,000 hits, 1,000 walks and 400 doubles in his first season back with the Pirates since they traded him to the San Francisco Giants in January 2018.

Pirates manager Derek Shelton on losing Andrew McCutchen to an Achilles injury and how they will handle the DH role moving forward. pic.twitter.com/Br0cOBsaQK

— Kevin Gorman (@KevinGormanPGH) September 6, 2023

“It’s a large blow for us, especially with the way he’s been swinging the bat lately and the quality of his at-bats,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “He’s still going to be around us, which is very important for our young group, especially going through September, but it’s obviously frustrating for him and disheartening for us.”

A five-time All-Star who was the 2013 NL MVP with the Pirates, McCutchen has repeatedly expressed a desire to play beyond this season and told the Tribune-Review last month that he wants to play for and win a championship for the team that drafted him in the first round in 2005.

McCutchen said there was “minimal thought” about attempting to play through the Achilles injury, given the Pirates (64-75) entered Wednesday eight games out of wild-card contention and he was so close to reaching another major milestone.

“At the same time, understanding the gamble you’re taking with it,” McCutchen said. “Maybe if we’re a little closer in the race, it’s something I would consider, just trying to play through it. We’re technically still in it, but also understanding, too, if I play through it, the risk of tearing it fully goes up.”

Andrew McCutchen on being on the cusp of his 300th career home run and the possibility of returning to play for the Pirates next season. pic.twitter.com/sz6yj0o9jA

— Kevin Gorman (@KevinGormanPGH) September 6, 2023

Where he will play next season was the furthest thing from his mind Wednesday, however, as McCutchen was still trying to process the reality of his season-ending injury.

“I haven’t thought about it,” McCutchen said. “This is still pretty fresh. I haven’t really thought too much about it yet besides where I’m at in this moment. I’m sure when I get some more time, I’ll have time to think about it. Brain, mind are still going 100 mph right now. Just trying to think about what are the next steps for me.”

Given that McCutchen will turn 37 next month, the realization that a completely torn Achilles could be career-threatening injury also entered his thought process. Where former Pirates first baseman Ji-Man Choi missed 69 games over nearly three months to recover from an Achilles injury, Tomczyk said Choi’s was more of a muscular-skeletal injury and McCutchen’s is distal and lower down on the bone.

“More than likely I ain’t coming back from that,” McCutchen said. “I had to ask myself those questions of what’s important, what do I want to do? For me, I’m not gonna go out like this. I wanna continue to keep playing and push through this, let this heal and be ready to go for 2024.”

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