Pirates' Andrew McCutchen likely out for remainder of season with partial Achilles tear
In all likelihood, Pittsburgh Pirates designated hitter Andrew McCutchen’s 2023 campaign is over.
The club’s director of sports medicine, Todd Tomczyk, relayed Wednesday afternoon that McCutchen suffered a partial tear of his left Achilles tendon.
McCutchen had been removed mid-game Monday night against the Brewers with Achilles tightness.
After an initial post-game medical assessment, the Pirates opted to investigate McCutchen’s Achilles more formally, where a partial tear was discovered.
While at this point surgery is not being discussed, McCutchen, 36, is expected to be relegated to wearing a walking boot for a minimum of six weeks.
Officially, he was placed on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to Tuesday.
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
In a corresponding roster move, the Pirates recalled infielder Jared Triolo from Triple-A Indianapolis.
Over 36 games with the Pirates this season, Triolo is batting .273 with a home run and 16 RBIs.
At Indinapolis, Triolo has appeared in 53 games, slashing .286/.412/.432 with a pair of homers and 25 RBIs.
For McCutchen, a return to action before season’s end isn’t being ruled out, but Tomczyk admitted that the recovery timeline, combined with the dwindling number of games remaining, is unfavorable.
“There’s what, 25 Major League games left? That’s going to be a challenge to get Andrew back in that time period,” Tomczyk told reporters.
Following Wednesday afternoon’s game against Milwaukee, the Pirates will have 22 games left to play.
McCutchen signed a one-year, $5-million contract with the Pirates this past offseason.
He is batting .256 with 12 home runs and 43 RBIs through 112 games played.
McCutchen leads the Pirates in on-base percentage (.378) and walks (75), while his 100 hits are third-most and his .775 OPS ranks second.
In his reunion with the Pirates this year, McCutchen has reached a number of career milestones, including 2,000 hits (June 11), 400 doubles (June 24) and 1,000 walks (May 7).
He currently sits at 299 career home runs.
Justin Guerriero is a TribLive reporter covering the Penguins, Pirates and college sports. A Pittsburgh native, he is a Central Catholic and University of Colorado graduate. He joined the Trib in 2022 after covering the Colorado Buffaloes for Rivals and freelancing for the Denver Post. He can be reached at jguerriero@triblive.com.
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