Jim Sankey: Extra Innings: Cutch, pitchers carve admirable path

Jun. 13—As my son sat across from my wife and me at the former Denny's restaurant sharing talk about the Pirates at about 10 a.m. on June 4, 2009, we were talking about the much-anticipated debut of 22-year-old centerfielder Andrew McCutchen that afternoon. "We should've gone," I mentioned. "Well, why don't you?" he offered.

So that's how we were among the 20,683 at PNC Park when McCutchen ran out to centerfield, flanked by leftfielder Njjer Morgan and rightfielder Brandon Moss.

We saw him go 2-for-4 that day, scoring three times while getting his first RBI, first stolen base and first walk in a Pirates 11-6 win over the Mets.

In between those two hits and his 2,000th on Sunday, Andrew McCutchen became "Cutch" to a generation of Pirate fans and the runaway most popular player in PNC Park history. In fact, not since Willie Stargell has anyone come close to McCutchen's place in Pirates record books or fans' hearts. Only 7 years old the last time the Bucs had finished above .500, McCutchen in his debut began the slow, but determined march to the postseason after 20 consecutive losing seasons. During that three-year stretch from 2013-15, McCutchen finished first, third and fifth in MVP voting.

Only the 291st player in major-league history to reach 2,000 hits, McCutchen is now the fifth active player to reach that level: Miguel Cabrera has 3,110, while Joey Votto, Nelson Cruz and Elvis Andrus all have fewer than 100 more hits than the 36-year-old Pirates designated hitter.

But Cutch isn't the only Pirate to make positive history so far this season. Three Pirates pitchers have reached rare air during the first 40 percent of the 2023 campaign.

Since the "immaculate inning" has been a thing for pitchers since 2000, only two Bucco pitchers had thrown just nine pitches against three batters who each struck out in an inning.

Last month, two more hurlers turned the trick within 21 days of each other. Reliever Colin Holderman did it against Tampa Bay on May 4, and starter Johann Oviedo followed with his feat against Texas on May 24.

At that point, Oviedo and Holderman were the only pitchers to toss an immaculate inning this season. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the only other team to toss two immaculate innings in the same month was the Astros in June 2022.

According to Elias, the only other Pirates pitchers to notch a nine-pitch, all-strikes frame were starter Ross Ohlendorf against St. Louis on Sept. 5, 2009, and reliever Juan Nicasio against the New York Mets on July 4, 2016.

Holderman credited his goal every game for his accomplishment: "I'm trying to be as nasty as I can, every pitch," the righthander said.

"It definitely is amazing," Oviedo said. "I've been close twice in my career."

"It's crazy," manager Derek Shelton said. "Until this year, I think I'd only [seen] two of them ever. I think it just shows the quality of the stuff our guys have."

Another history-making pitcher in 2023 is Mitch Keller, one of few Pirates pitchers throughout the team's history to remain in the organization for nine seasons before pitching as management had expected him to do before this season. Possibly headed for his first All-Star game, the 27-year-old righthander has made mostly positive headlines for the Bucs.

Keller is tied for the most wins in the National League and tied for third most wins among all major league pitchers and owns the second-best league win-loss percentage and seventh best overall. He has the second most strikeouts among NL pitchers and fourth most in the majors.

Despite a three-game stretch when Keller gave up 15 earned runs, including five in 5 1/3 innings against Oakland last week, Keller won his eighth game Sunday against the Mets. He held the team with a $345.5 payroll and kept the Pirates in first place, a slot the Bucs take into tonight's game against the Cubs in Chicago.

This is the Mitch Keller, who was drafted by the Bucs in 2014 and took five years before reaching the majors in 2019. His eight wins in 2023 are only four fewer than the total number of Keller's 12 wins in his first four seasons, from 2019-22.

As the Bucs head to Milwaukee, they'll look for more Cutch hits and more strong pitching performances from Holderman, Oviedo and Keller to lead the way.

JIM SANKEY is the Pittsburgh Pirates columnist for Allied News. His work appears weekly during the baseball season.

JIM SANKEY is the Pittsburgh Pirates columnist for Allied News. His work appears weekly during the baseball season.