Throwback Photo Shows Andrew McCutchen Coming Full Circle

Sometimes, MLB-related Twitter accounts would photoshop a player’s face to his new uniform when it is announced he has signed for X team.

It’s really funny because the edits often look like they were made by a 5-year-old kid.

Cut4, and MLB reporter Justice de los Santos, didn’t really have to work much on photoshopping Andrew McCutchen‘s face to the Pittsburgh Pirates uniform.

first look at Andrew McCutchen in a @Pirates uni

(Per @justdelossantos) pic.twitter.com/uGTcetmr9W

— Cut4 (@Cut4) January 13, 2023

If that looks extremely real, it’s because, well, it is real.

In the unlikely case you forgot, McCutchen – who put pen to paper on a one-year deal to play in front of the fans that adore him – was developed in the Pirates’ system and made his MLB debut there in 2009.

He stayed there until 2018, when he was traded to the San Francisco Giants in the same transaction that netted the Pirates fellow outfielder Bryan Reynolds.

Cutch was a star in Pittsburgh.

He made five All-Star teams and won the 2013 National League MVP award.

Since their 1979 World Series triumph, the Pirates have made the playoffs just six times, in two separate three-year periods: from 1990 to 1992 and from 2013 to 2015.

Those timeframes coincide with their most influential players in the post-Willie Stargell era: Barry Bonds (1990-92) and McCutchen (2013-15).

He is a true legend in Pittsburgh, and he is making his long-anticipated return to the city that gave him so much.

Needless to say, he also gave back a lot.

McCutchen isn’t the star he once was, mainly because he is 36.

However, he can still help and will lead a young roster on their way to rebuilding.