THE GIANTS

McCutchen, the 11th pick in the 2005 draft, has swiped 171 bases in his career.

the story: Andrew McCutchen was here for five years, and not once was it ever, ‘I can do this. I can do that. I’m this good.’

“He just showed up and did his work every day. He worked hard, and it showed in games. It was never about him.”

Change In Position

McCutchen, a career center fielder, will play right field for the Giants. The Pirates tried to make that move last year, owing to the 2012 Gold Glove winner’s declining range.

McCutchen’s first reaction was shock. His second reaction was: “I don’t want to do this.” As he wrote in The Players’ Tribune last February: “In my mind, center field is my spot. I’m the center fielder. I always have been. And I was proud of that.”

But he eventually agreed, in part because his father always told him to be an athlete who can play anywhere or do anything. He also reminded himself that playing in right field in Pittsburgh meant following in Roberto Clemente’s footsteps.

The experiment lasted only a few weeks before McCutchen moved back to center in the wake of Starling Marte’s injury. But along the way, he posted a photo of Clemente tipping his cap to the home crowd.

“I definitely felt a connection,’’ McCutchen said this spring. “The philanthropy throughout his career was something that was very intriguing to me. I learned that he was a great player but an even better person.”

Clemente, a Hall of Famer and 15-time All-Star, died in a plane crash on New Year’s Eve 1972 while attempting to deliver supplies to earthquake victims in Nicaragua.

“He used baseball to be able to do so much good in the community — so much so that he ended up losing his life trying to help others,’’ McCutchen said. “And for me, that’s the greatest thing you can do in your life.”

While in Pittsburgh, he combined with Pirates Charities to found “Cutch’s Crew,” a program designed to mentor inner-city youth baseball players. He also supported the Make-A-Wish Foundation, the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh Foundation, the Homeless Children’s Education Fund, the Light of Life Rescue Mission and Habitat for Humanity, among others. He won the Roberto Clemente Award in 2015.

“He was a face of the franchise, which almost every team has. But I think there’s a lot more that went into that because he’s such a class guy and stood for so many good things,’’ Melancon said. “It was pretty cool to see how one person can change a city.”

Or, as Pirates manager Clint Hurdle once said: “This is the guy I’d let hit third and date my daughter.”

McCutchen charmed Pittsburgh quickly, but one particular woman took some extra effort. Not long after the outfielder made his major league debut in 2009, at age 22, he met a young Pirates employee named Maria Hanslovan at a baseball camp. Then they started bumping into each other on random occasions throughout the city.

“So eventually I got the courage

The Giants

McCutchen, left, laughs with coach Hensley Meulens during a spring training workout in Scottsdale, Arizona. He spent much of the spring providing the kind of quiet leadership the Giants hoped for when they acquired him, tutoring rookie Steven Duggar, the center fielder of the future.

to ask her out ... and she shut me down,’’ McCutchen said. “And she shut me down, like, five more times after that.”

Maria figured he was a typical ballplayer on the prowl. McCutchen got a date only after proving he was a man of substance. He proposed to Maria on the “Ellen DeGeneres Show” in 2013. “Definitely out of my league,” McCutchen says now, “but I did it. I did it!”

Andrew and Maria settled in Pittsburgh, had a child last November and bought a beautiful home. Even after leaving for San Francisco, he vowed that he left his heart in Pittsburgh. McCutchen wrote a sweet farewell letter to fans there, vowing to forever stay connected to the Steel City. (“Maybe when I’m 100, they’ll drag my butt back down to Florida, snowbird-style,’’ he wrote.)

But McCutchen wants to clear up one misconception. As much as he loves Pittsburgh, he did not name his son Steel in honor of the city. He and Maria had always planned on picking a strong name for their child, and Steel fit the bill. “Next thing you know, one thing led to another, and everybody said, ‘Oh, you named your kid after Pittsburgh,’” McCutchen says now. “Well, not really.”

POP, BUT NO PUB

One of the perks of joining the Giants is that McCutchen doesn’t have to be the face of anything. The Giants already have more faces than a winning poker hand thanks to the likes of Buster Posey, Madison Bumgarner, Brandon Crawford and Hunter Pence.

McCutchen needs to provide some pop for a team that finished last in home runs last season and upgrade an outfield defense that should have played with butterfly nets a year ago.

He spent much of the spring providing the kind of quiet leadership the Giants hoped for when they acquired him in exchange for pitcher Kyle Crick and outfield prospect Bryan Reynolds.

McCutchen tutored rookie Steven Duggar, the center fielder of the future, on the nuances of the position. Even during games, he’d catch Duggar’s eye and reposition him a few steps here or there based on the situation.

McCutchen might not be the player he was at his peak, when he led the National League in offensive WAR for three consecutive seasons (2012-14). But his reputation remains unchanged.

“Another true pro,’’ second baseman Joe Panik said. “Another guy that’s going to come in and not be afraid of the big moment. He’s proven throughout his career that he can play with the best of them.”

This is why Lorenzo McCutchen gave up football. This is why Petrina McCutchen wound up belting out the national anthem at Pirates games over the years.

This is why Andrew McCutchen is still protecting his house.

“Everybody that I’ve known who knows Andrew McCutchen would say that they know beyond a shadow of a doubt that he has integrity,’’ said Needs, the Carson-Newman football teammate. “And I don’t have to look very far to find out where that comes from.”