After Liover Peguero hit three home runs in one game Aug. 2 at Coors Field, Andrew McCutchen approached the 24-year-old infielder and provided a pop quiz: Do you know who was the last Pittsburgh Pirates player to hit three homers in a game in Denver?
Peguero had no idea, even though the answer was staring right at him.
McCutchen pointed to himself and flashed his signature smile.
“He got a kick out of that,” McCutchen said of his three-homer game against the Colorado Rockies on April 26, 2016. “Obviously, we saw the way the games went there, but that’s the way the games always go there. … Three homers is three homers, no matter where you hit them in the big leagues. It doesn’t happen a lot. It’s still pretty rare to do. It’s not easy to do.”
That Peguero matched McCutchen — both went 3 for 5 with three runs and five RBIs on two solo shots and a three-run blast — is no small feat, but it pales in comparison to Peguero cracking another code. He has developed a fast friendship with the 38-year-old designated hitter and franchise icon.
The two players known better by their nicknames — Cutch and Peggy — have become more than locker mates in the Pirates clubhouse. McCutchen has taken on a mentor role to Peguero, a former top-five prospect who has 11 homers in 78 major-league games over three seasons but is still searching for a role on the roster.
“It feels amazing, having someone like Cutch who’s been in the game for a long time. It’s also a privilege for me to have conversations on every type of way,” Peguero said of the five-time All-Star and 2013 National League MVP. “What can I say? He’s just a person that’s always down to help you in any way possible. He’s an unbelievable person. My favorite thing about him is he’s always willing to help anybody. It doesn’t matter if you’re a rookie or a vet. He’s going to be there for you. That’s one thing I really appreciate in my day-by-day by him.”
What Peguero appreciates most is how approachable and available McCutchen made himself, especially when Peguero spent a few days with the Pirates earlier this season and last year without making an appearance in games. One day, they struck up a conversation that lasted about 30 minutes. And they haven’t stopped talking.
“I remember when we had that kind of conversation, the first thing that came to my mind was that he probably felt like I was him back in the day, by myself and he was trying to make me feel like I belonged here,” Peguero said. “I feel like that gave me a big boost confidence-wise. It’s Andrew McCutchen! Who wouldn’t feel confidence having a conversation with someone like him? It’s a great feeling.”
McCutchen sees it the other way around, joking that what makes them mesh is that Peguero “can talk to a wall.”
What impresses McCutchen is Peguero’s inquisitiveness, asking questions about what he doesn’t comprehend. Peguero allows nothing to be lost in translation amid transition, as he’s added first base and outfield to his shortstop and second base duties in an effort to become more versatile for, and thereby valuable to, the Pirates.
And McCutchen has become his most trusted resource.
“Good for him to take that upon himself to do that, to come, to approach, to ask, because there’s not a lot of it in the game, guys with 15-plus years in the game,” said McCutchen in his 17th season in the majors and 12th with the Pirates. “I know if I was in that position, I’d be doing the same thing he’s doing. I’d be under a veteran’s wings and I’d be asking him any question I can think of because I know that veteran ain’t going to be there much longer, so I’d want to learn what I can when I can and as much as I can. It’s good that he’s done that, that he’s doing that. I wish more people would do it.”
Peguero views McCutchen like an older brother — there is a 14-year age gap — and finds it “amazing” that someone of McCutchen’s stature in the game is willing to pour into him. Peguero believes it’s possibly because McCutchen sees some of the younger version of himself in Peguero.
McCutchen doesn’t disagree, though he’s quick to note their differences.
“He’s free-spirited. He’s more outspoken than I was when I was his age. I was more like that guy over there,” McCutchen said, motioning toward two-time All-Star right-hander Paul Skenes in the clubhouse. “By myself, didn’t talk a lot, went about my business and played the game. To whatever he means by that, maybe it’s a sense of he feels like he’s capable of doing some good things. I do believe that he is.”
That’s not to draw comparisons. By age 24, McCutchen was an All-Star. The following year, he won a Gold Glove and the first of four consecutive Silver Slugger awards and finished third in NL MVP voting. By his age 26 season, McCutchen was a superstar and the catalyst in helping the Pirates end a two-decade drought from a winning season, earn a postseason berth and win a wild-card game at PNC Park.
Peguero is just trying to find a role, whether it’s playing shortstop, second base, first base or the outfield. But he’s bigger than his listed 6-foot-1, 200 pounds and has flashed the pop the Pirates desperately need with four homers on their last road trip. What he hasn’t shown is the consistency that keeps players in the big leagues, and McCutchen is making it his mission to help Peguero tap into his potential.
“Tools-wise, he has it,” McCutchen said. “He has it in him to be a really good hitter, and he’s that right-handed hitter here that we don’t have a whole lot of. He’s a bigger guy, can hit for some power and has a good idea of the strike zone. He could be a really good right-handed hitter here, Hopefully, that can happen for him. …”
Kevin Gorman is a TribLive reporter covering the Pirates. A Baldwin native and Penn State graduate, he joined the Trib in 1999 and has covered high school sports, Pitt football and basketball and was a sports columnist for 10 years. He can be reached at kgorman@triblive.com.
