With game of catch, Andrew McCutchen, Ke'Bryan Hayes begin bond as Pirates

BRADENTON, Fla. — It was a simple spring training game of catch but one that represented so much more for Andrew McCutchen and the Pittsburgh Pirates.

First and foremost, McCutchen finally felt back at home while wearing the black and gold colors at Pirate City for the first time in six years.

Returning to the team that drafted him and where he was the 2013 NL MVP, was a five-time All-Star, won four Silver Sluggers and made three consecutive postseason appearances had McCutchen flashing the familiar smile that made him so popular with Pirates fans.

“It’s great to be back,” said McCutchen, who was traded to San Francisco in January 2018 and bounced from the Giants to the New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies and Milwaukee Brewers. “I feel like — I don’t know the word I’m looking for — but you go somewhere new, people know you only from what they’ve seen from afar. Maybe they have this perception of you, of the person you are, the player you are. You might hit those boxes all in certain ways, but at the same time — I don’t know, I don’t know — it’s a little different. Here, I feel like this is the way it is supposed to be. It’s good, man. It’s good. … It feels right.”

Ke’Bryan Hayes and McCutchen had only known each other from afar, as Hayes’ first major-league camp with the Pirates came after McCutchen was traded. When McCutchen picked up a ball Thursday morning, Hayes didn’t hesitate to ask if he wanted to throw.

Cutch and Key, playing catch. If you’re into that sort of thing pic.twitter.com/Z0OUe9uRyo

— Alex Stumpf (@AlexJStumpf) February 16, 2023

It wasn’t quite a scene from “Field of Dreams,” but it served as an instant introduction for the former face of the franchise and the current cornerstone, perhaps the passing of a baton and beginning of a bond between a pair of prominent Black American baseball players.

In returning to the Pirates on a one-year, $5 million contract, McCutchen accepts the responsibility that comes with being not only a 14-year veteran but one who has experienced success in a city that can count only four winning baseball seasons since PNC Park opened in 2001.

Like McCutchen, Hayes made an electric entrance as a rookie in a spectacular September 2020. Since then, Hayes has developed into an elite defender at third base, but the Pirates have finished in last place in the NL Central in each of his first three seasons.

“He’s what I’ve seen from afar. He’s no different,” said McCutchen, who got to know Ke’Bryan’s father when Charlie Hayes was a Phillies scout in 2019. “The guy’s a great talent. … I can’t wait to play alongside him and help him any way I can.”

Andrew McCutchen takes BP at Pirate City on Friday morning. pic.twitter.com/Hjn672eSdi

— Kevin Gorman (@KevinGormanPGH) February 17, 2023

When the Pirates signed Hayes to the richest contract in franchise history, at $70 million over eight seasons, it surpassed both the six-year, $51.5 million deal McCutchen signed in 2012 and the six-year, $60 million extension catcher Jason Kendall signed in 2000.

The contract came with the burden of being the face of their future while the Pirates endured a second consecutive 100-loss season. Hayes expects his relationship with McCutchen to develop as naturally as the game of catch did in hopes he can learn from his leadership about how to turn around a team from perennial pretender to playoff contender.

“To be able to bring somebody like that, who won an MVP and Silver Slugger awards, he was the leader of the Pirates from the time when I signed here, just to bring a guy like that back into the clubhouse is awesome,” said Hayes, who is looking forward to “seeing how (McCutchen) goes about his business because I didn’t get to see him when I was coming up and picking his brain about how to win because he was able to win when he was here.

“Definitely having someone who’s been there and done it, now I’m in a clubhouse with him and being able to relate to him more even with off-the-field stuff. All of that stuff plays a part in chemistry. The teams that win, that chemistry is tight on and off the field.”

Pirates manager Derek Shelton discusses the potential impact Andrew McCutchen’s leadership could have on the future of Ke’Bryan Hayes and Termarr Johnson. pic.twitter.com/zzrewYv0Tk

— Kevin Gorman (@KevinGormanPGH) February 17, 2023

Pirates manager Derek Shelton is embracing McCutchen’s willingness to provide leadership for a young team and suggested that it’s a sign that “he’s just paying it forward.”

“I think it speaks to the person that he is that he’s willing to take guys under his wing, talk to them and educate them, both pitfalls and really good things,” Shelton said. “The only way you can do that is if you have experience, but it really speaks to who Cutch is as a person, that he is willing to take guys and have conversations with them.”

The Pirates are counting on McCutchen to have a positive impact on Hayes and 2022 first-rounder Termarr Johnson, the 18-year-old middle infielder who is a product of MLB Diversity Development programs such as Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities, the DREAM and Breakthrough series and the Hank Aaron Invitational.

McCutchen reminisced about his first camp with the Pirates as a teenager, laughing about how the veterans must have been smirking as he jumped and skipped as high as he could in warmups and tried to finish first in every run in an effort to prove himself and make the team. In 2013, McCutchen proved to be the catalyst in the Pirates putting an end to a streak of 20 straight losing seasons by earning a wild-card berth.

Andrew McCutchen on how he can relate to 3B Ke’Bryan Hayes and 2022 first-rounder Termarr Johnson and his message to the Pirates. pic.twitter.com/fbdWk6JoTC

— Kevin Gorman (@KevinGormanPGH) February 17, 2023

McCutchen wants to serve as an example that it’s possible to go from losing to winning in a way he couldn’t comprehend when members of the Pirates’ 1979 World Series team returned three decades later to share stories of what propelled them to the championship because of the generational gap.

“I’m looking forward to being able to not only talk to them but to be a voice for the way things work, the way we did things when I was here. Not necessarily saying, ‘This is the right way.’ Things change, and you evolve. But I want them understanding (that) winning here wasn’t that long ago, and I was a part of it. So I know what it feels like,” McCutchen said.

“… I feel like I can do that. I’m like, ‘Dude, I was here when we won three straight years. Also I was here when we lost.’ I’m able to be that voice to let them know that I know what it feels like to lose, but I also know what it feels like to win. I think there’s a lot that I can do, a lot that I can bring and I’m excited for it because this is a ballclub that shouldn’t lose 100 games. This is a good ballclub. It’s just a matter of guys being able to let them know that (the key is) having that belief that they can win.”

The Pirates are hoping that belief began with a game of catch that bridged the gap between their past and future, one that was a long time coming and just felt right.