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Season storyline: Quinn Priester rejoins Pirates

Quinn Priester makes MLB return Former top prospect called up to majors following injury to Marco Gonzales   The Pittsburgh Pirates’ rotation to start the year he been a welcome surprise. Between Martin Perez holding a 2.55 earned run average (ERA) and Jared Jones setting the baseball world on fire to start his career, the rotation has kept them in most games this season. After Marco Gonzales landed on the injured list because of a left forearm muscle strain, Quinn Priester will be the next man up to continue the success. Priester’s first major league stint was not what Pirates’ fans had been hoping for. The former top prospect had lost some of his velocity and his good breaking stuff was not enough to make up for a fastball that was too hittable. The strikeouts were also not enough to make up for how hard he was getting hit in 2023. Albeit in a small sample size, Priester may be on the verge of a resurgence after working on those problems. After being drafted at ...
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Season storyline: Andrew McCutchen hits career home run No. 300

Cutch enters rare air as fourth player to hit 300th homer with Pittsburgh

Andrew McCutchen blasted his 300th home run against the Phillies on Sunday

By Aidan Treu

 

Andrew McCutchen sat at 299 home runs coming into the 2024 season. The Pittsburgh Pirates’ legend tried to put the milestone out of his mind to stay focused, but everyone was thinking about it.

Prior to this year three players had clubbed home run number 300 with the Pirates.

All it took was a beautiful day in Philadelphia and an already sizeable Pirates’ lead for Cutch to join the party.

McCutchen joins All-time Pirates’ greats Willie Stargell and Ralph Kiner having completed the feat. The other player, Jeromy Burnitz, did so in his swan song season in 2006, his only career season with the Bucs.

Stargell (475) and Kiner (301) remain the only two players to have at least 300 home runs with the Pirates.

Between his earlier tenure with Pittsburgh and his recent return, McCutchen has 216 homers with the team. That number puts him at fourth on the all-time Pirates home run leaderboard. Third place is still held by the The Great One, Roberto Clemente, with 240 long bombs.

Cutch becomes the 160th player in MLB history to record 300 career home runs. Former Pirate Carlos Santana is just above him with 301. New York Yankees’ Anthony Rizzo is eyeing becoming the next member of the exclusive club. The 34-year-old has 296 to his name and should easily have enough juice left in the tank.

The home run came as insurance in a game that was all but decided with the Pirates up 8-2 over the Philadelphia Phillies already in the ninth. Cutch hammered an 85 mph slider left up in the zone over the fence in left field in the top of the frame to end the afternoon’s scoring and solidify the final score at 9-2.

The ball travelled 378 feet and was hit 99 mph with a 34 degree launch angle. For many, it was not a clear bomb off the bat, but watching McCutchen out of the box shows you he knew he got it.

To make the story even sweeter, the ball ricocheted off a young Pirates fans’ hat to his father. Amidst a sea of Phillies’ fans, the ball found its way to a black and gold jersey.

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