Latest milestone furthers Andrew McCutchen's HOF case
Former MVP Andrew McCutchen became the latest member of the 300-home run club on Sunday, but he also joined another elite list, which could further his chances of landing in Cooperstown.
As Alex Stumpf of MLB.com pointed out, McCutchen is now one of only 13 players to record 2,000 hits, 400 doubles, 45 triples, 300 home runs and 200 stolen bases.
The group includes eight players already in the Baseball Hall of Fame, such as Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Reggie Jackson and George Brett. In addition to those names, potential future enshrinees like Carlos Beltran and Joe Carter also grace the list, as does Barry Bonds, who isn't in for obvious reasons. Meanwhile, McCutchen is one of only nine players on the list to win an MVP award.
McCutchen becomes the 160th member of the 300-home run club but only the 26th to do so with 200 or more stolen bases, per Baseball Reference.
Sunday couldn't have been a more fitting stage for McCutchen's 300th round-tripper. For starters, he accomplished the feat in a Pittsburgh Pirates uniform, the team he began his career with in 2009 before rising to National League MVP five seasons later. Furthermore, he recorded the milestone against one of his former clubs, the Philadelphia Phillies, smoking a 2-2 slider from right-hander Ricardo Pinto 378 feet into the left-field stands.
The 37-year-old rejoined the Pirates in 2023, where he saw a brief renaissance. McCutchen slashed .256/.378.397 with 12 home runs and 43 RBI while recording his 2,000th-career hit before a season-ending Achilles tendon injury cut his campaign short in early September. Following the season, he agreed to a one-year, $5M contract with Pittsburgh for 2024, but aside from Sunday's history-making homer, he's struggled so far, going 7-of-36 at the plate with 16 strikeouts in nine games.
McCutchen is closer to the end of his career than the start. However, with his undeniable numbers and an impressive haul of hardware, including an NL MVP Award, four Silver Sluggers and a Gold Glove, he's already produced a healthy Hall of Fame argument.
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