I was going to wait a few days on this article idea, but two things happened that made me move it up to this morning. With Andrew McCutchen passing Barry Bonds on the Pirates all-time total bases list last night, and Bonds celebrating his 51st birthday today, now would be a good time to compare the two players during their respective careers in Pittsburgh. The reason I planned on waiting, is that McCutchen is less than 40 plate appearances away from what Bonds had in Pittsburgh, but it’s close enough now to get a good comparison. You can read a bio here, for Bonds’ playing days in Pittsburgh.
From 1986 until 1992, Barry Bonds played 1010 games for the Pirates and had 4255 plate appearances. With 176 homers and 251 stolen bases, he is the only member of the 150/150 club in team history. Andrew McCutchen hit his 141st homer on Thursday night and he has 148 career steals, meaning he will someday soon join Bonds in that exclusive club. There is no guarantee he will hit nine homers over the rest of the season, but he will eventually get there.
McCutchen has now played 972 games and he has 4217 plate appearances, so the two players are very close. As mentioned above, McCutchen passed Bonds in total bases on Thursday. They were tied for 20th place on the team’s all-time list after a McCutchen single early in the game, then he took the lead on the homer, giving him 1808 total bases.
I will note that before I get too far into the comparison, Baseball-Reference has the WAR for Barry Bonds at 50.1 during his time with the Pirates and McCutchen is at 36.3, so for those that consider the WAR stat to be the most important, there is a huge advantage for Bonds. Bonds was also obviously more of a home run hitter and ran a lot more often, plus his defense gets higher marks.
On that home run from McCutchen, he also scored his 600th career run. He was tied with Andy Van Slyke for 27th place to start the day, while Bonds scored 672 runs for the Pirates. That ranks him 20th in team history.
McCutchen has exactly 100 more hits than Bonds, 1084 to 984, but that is somewhat offset by Bonds having 117 more walks. As for times on base, which counts hits, walks and HBP, McCutchen has been on base 1626 times, which places him 19th all-time for the Pirates, one spot and 11 times on base ahead of Bonds.
With them being so close in times on base and plate appearances, it should come as no surprise that they are close in on base percentage. McCutchen is 13th all-time for the Pirates with a .386 mark, while Bonds is 14th, six points behind.
The two players are back-to-back in doubles, with McCutchen again in the lead, ranking 18th with 225 and Bonds 19th with 220. The next one McCutchen hits will tie him with Dick Groat.
We go to slugging and I’m sensing a pattern here. Bonds is eighth in team history at .503 and McCutchen is ninth, six points behind him, which is their difference in OBP too. Going into Thursday, McCutchen had an .882 OPS, but that went up one point with the big game and that ties him for tenth all-time with Bonds.
On the RBI list, Bonds sits 21st all-time with 556 and McCutchen passed Richie Hebner for 23rd with 521, so they are a little off there, but it should get closer over those next 38 plate appearances he needs to tie Bonds.
When you look at some SABR stats, such as runs created, there they are back-to-back with Bonds having a slight edge over McCutchen. By the time McCutchen has the same amount of plate appearances as Bonds, he could pass him. Adjusted batting runs has Bonds ninth in team history and McCutchen tenth. Adjusted batting wins, Bonds eighth, McCutchen ninth.
I think you get the idea by now, they are basically close. I realize the irony of me typing it, but I saw McCutchen one sacrifice fly ahead of Bonds and said that’s far enough, the picture is pretty clear. They were slightly different players during their time in Pittsburgh and most fans hope McCutchen is around long enough that this article looks very outdated at some point and instead, the comparisons are with some of the all-time greats in team history that stuck around longer.
Bonds drew more walks, stole more bases, hit for more power and that led to more runs. McCutchen hit for a higher average, to the point they have the same OPS. Bonds also helped lead the Pirates to three straight playoffs during his time and McCutchen….well, the odds look good at this point.
Pirates Game Graph
Source: FanGraphs
Playoff Push
The Pirates trail by six games in the division to the Cardinals. They have a 3.5 game lead for the top wild card spot.
Indianapolis is 5-5 in their last ten games. They have a three game lead in their division.
Altoona is 6-4 in their last ten games and they are now tied for first place with Bowie.
Bradenton is 8-2 in their last ten games. They trail Palm Beach by one game in the standings.
West Virginia is 7-3 in their last ten games and they have a three game lead in the division.
Today’s Schedule
Today’s Starter and Notes: The Pirates defeated the Nationals by a 7-3 score on Thursday. In game two of the four-game series tonight, the Pirates will have Jeff Locke going up against Max Scherzer, who just missed a perfect game last time he faced Pittsburgh. Locke allowed three runs over 7.1 innings against the Brewers in his last start. He did not face Washington last time the two teams met.
In the minors, Stephen Tarpley gets the start for West Virginia and he has allowed two earned runs or less in ten of his 11 starts. In his last outing, he had a season-high eight strikeouts. Radhames Liz goes for Indianapolis tonight. He has started five times and pitches three times in relief. On July 11th, he allowed four earned runs over five innings. In his other seven appearances, he has given up one earned run in 26 innings. Last time out, Liz threw six shutout frames. You can view last night’s prospect watch here.
MLB: Pittsburgh (55-40) vs Nationals (51-43) 7:05 PM
Probable starter: Jeff Locke (4.01 ERA, 38:78 BB/SO, 103.1 IP)
AAA: Indianapolis (57-42) vs Louisville (48-52) 7:15 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Radhames Liz (1.44 ERA, 7:31 BB/SO, 36.1 IP)
AA: Altoona (54-45) @ Akron (50-49) 7:05 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Zack Dodson (4.02 ERA, 21:51 BB/SO, 107.1 IP)
High-A: Bradenton (50-48, 18-10 second half) vs Dunedin (43-55) 6:30 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Felipe Gonzalez (3.34 ERA, 18:52 BB/SO, 67.1 IP)
Low-A: West Virginia (56-40, 19-8 second half) @ Lakewood (49-46) 7:05 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Stephen Tarpley (2.29 ERA, 17:54 BB/SO, 59.0 IP)
Short-Season A: Morgantown (17-16) vs Staten Island (19-13) 7:05 PM (season preview)
Probable Starter: TBD
Rookie: Bristol (12-15) @ Pulaski (17-13) 7:00 PM (season preview)
Probable Starter: TBD
GCL: Pirates (14-11) vs Blue Jays (17-10) 12:00 PM (season preview)
DSL: Pirates (18-28) vs Tigers (22-24) 10:30 AM (season preview)
Highlights
Here is an RBI triple from Keon Broxton, who has had a tough time with the jump to AAA, though he has picked it up recently. Broxton is hitting .316 in his last ten games. Through 46 games with Indianapolis, he is hitting .219/.315/.348 and he’s 13-for-14 in stolen bases.
Recent Transactions
7/23: Pirates traded Yhonathan Barrios to Milwaukee Brewers for Aramis Ramirez and cash.
7/23: Steve Lombardozzi designated for assignment.
7/23: John Holdzkom assigned to Morgantown on rehab.
7/23: Hunter Morris activated from Indianapolis disabled list.
7/23: Wes Freeman released. Andy Otamendi assigned to Bradenton.
7/23: Mervin Del Rosario assigned to GCL Pirates.
7/22: Pirates purchase contract of Pedro Florimon. Wilfredo Boscan optioned to Indianapolis. Jayson Aquino designated for assignment.
7/22: Barrett Barnes promoted to Altoona. Andy Vasquez promoted to Indianapolis.
7/22: Gorkys Hernandez assigned to Indianapolis on rehab.
7/21: Jonathan Schwind and Andrew Lambo assigned to GCL Pirates on rehab.
7/21: Harold Ramirez activated from temporary inactive list. Robert Stock placed on disabled list.
7/20: Jordy Mercer placed on disabled list. Pirates recall Brent Morel. Corey Hart transferred to 60-day DL.
7/20: Tito Polo activated from temporary inactive list. Jeff Roy promoted to Bradenton.
7/20: Kelson Brown activated from Indianapolis disabled list.
7/19: Junior Lopez assigned to Bradenton. Oderman Rocha assigned to GCL Pirates.
7/19: Pirates place Gorkys Hernandez on DL. Wilfredo Boscan recalled.
7/19: Jose Tabata activated from temporary inactive list.
7/17: Pirates sign Jake Thompson. Assigned to Indianapolis.
7/17: Pirates recall Jaff Decker.
7/17: Oderman Rocha assigned to Bradenton. Junior Lopez assigned to GCL Pirates.
7/16: Hunter Morris placed on Indianapolis disabled list. Jose Tabata placed on temporary inactive list.
7/15: Pirates sign Ryan Nagle. Assigned to Morgantown.
7/15: Pirates sign Brandon Waddell and James Marvel. Waddell assigned to Morgantown.
7/15: Luis Paula sent to Morgantown.
7/13: Wilfredo Boscan sent to Indianapolis.
7/13: Seth McGarry assigned to Morgantown.
7/13: Omar Basulto assigned to GCL. Mike Wallace transferred from GCL to Bristol.
7/12: Wilfredo Boscan recalled. Steve Lombardozzi optioned to Indianapolis.
7/10: Pirates sign Ike Schlabach and assign him to GCL.
7/10: Pirates sign Tate Scioneaux and assign him to Morgantown.
7/10: Jesus Paredes promoted to Morgantown. Oderman Rocha sent to GCL.
This Date in Pirates History
Four former Pittsburgh Pirates players born on this date, plus a game of note from the 1901 season. Besides Barry Bonds, who has a bio linked above, there have been three other Pittsburgh Pirates players born on this date.
Joe Oliver caught for the 1999 Pirates. He was mentioned here yesterday, when the Pirates traded away Jose Guillen as part of a four-player deal to acquire Oliver from the Devil Rays. The trade was made necessary by the season-ending injury to Jason Kendall. In 45 games for the Pirates, Oliver hit .201 and drove in 13 runs.
Preston Ward was a utility player for the Pirates from 1953 until 1956. He played first base, third base and right field while in Pittsburgh, hitting .240 in 305 games. Ward came to the Pirates from the Cubs in the ten-player deal that sent Ralph Kiner to Chicago, which is one of the biggest deals in team history.
Joe Schultz Sr, infielder for the 1916 Pirates. He hit .260 in 77 games for the Pirates and saw playing time at five different positions. Schultz is one of the rare father-son combos in team history, as his son played for Pittsburgh from 1939 until 1941. You can make his family connection with the Pirates even more rare, as his cousin was outfielder Hans Lobert, who was the member of the 1903 NL champs. Schultz Sr also had another cousin named Frank Lobert, who played in the majors and lived in Pittsburgh, but never played for his hometown team.
Finally, we have something from the 1901 season that you rarely see. The Pirates that year won their first NL pennant and on July 24th, they beat the Reds by an 11-2 score at home. What was interesting about that game was the fact the Pirates scored all eight innings they came to the plate. You can read a recap of the game in the link above.
