Let's begin with a trivia question.

How many guys in baseball history have done what Andrew McCutchen has done, which is steal at least 150 bases and hit 150 home runs in his first seven seasons?

Only eight, and baseball fans can probably guess, or at least won't be surprised by, the other seven: Willie Mays, Darryl Strawberry, a father-son duo with the surname Bonds, Eric Davis, Alfonso Soriano and Matt Kemp. (All stats obtained via baseball-reference.com.)

McCutchen, with 151 home runs and 154 steals, doesn't have the power of Mays or Strawberry. Each averaged more than 30 home runs in his first seven seasons to tally 216 and 215 home runs, respectively. Nor has McCutchen approached the thievery of the Bonds clan; Bobby and Barry each averaged more than 35 steals a season the moment their feet touched a major-league diamond, both clearing 250 steals at this point in their careers.

But the fact that such power-speed luminaries as Alex Rodriguez, Vladimir Guerrero and Andre Dawson failed to clear the 150-mark in one category or the other in their first seven seasons in the major leagues shows the difficulty of this accomplishment. McCutchen and Barry Bonds are the only Pirates in the 150/150 career club, by the way.

So today, let's compare McCutchen to both his contemporaries and his predecessors. Every stat will represent moments on the diamond that are much more fun to watch in real time, but if you look at these numbers long enough, you might begin to hear the cheers.

On the rise

It's an obscure fact of the 20th century that once every 30 years, a Pittsburgh Pirate led a decade in hits. Honus Wagner led the majors from 1900 to 1909 with 1,847; Paul Waner led the 1930s with 1,959; and Roberto Clemente led the 1960s with 1,877.

The club's hitters couldn't match that in the past four decades, but in each season of this one, McCutchen's chances have increased. Right now he stands fifth in hits since 2010, and he's at least four years younger than each of the four men ahead of him, with four seasons to go.

Here are the top 10 from 2010 through 2015: Robinson Cano, 1,140 hits; Miguel Cabrera, 1,111; Adrian Gonzalez, 1,068; Adrian Beltre, 1,067; Andrew McCutchen, 1,027; Adam Jones, 1,024; Nick Markakis, 1,024; Billy Butler, 1,007; Starlin Castro, 991; and Elvis Andrus, 985.

McCutchen is 29 years old. Jones is 30, Butler turns 30 in April, and Markakis is 32. Cano and Cabrera are 33 this season, Gonzalez will turn 34 and Beltre 37. Only Castro and Andrus, 26 and 27 this season, are younger in the top 10, and both fell farther behind McCutchen in the 2015 season.

Some of this is simply good timing. McCutchen's first full season, 2010, began the decade. It's likewise lucky for him that the first full seasons for Mike Trout and Bryce Harper weren't until 2012. But that's quibbling.

All the Pirates who have led a decade in hits are in the Hall of Fame. Odds are still against McCutchen leading this decade, given Cano's 113-hit lead and Cabrera's 84 hits on him. Both also play in the American League where they don't even have to take the field to bat.

But McCutchen's been moving up this list since the decade began, from 46th to fifth place with no slipping backward, and he's under the Pirates' control at least through these next three seasons. We may be looking at the fourth Pirate to outhit every batter alive in a 10-year stretch, and ain't that somethin'?

Power and Speed

Back to the 150/150 club, here's a list of every player who has stolen at least 150 bases and hit at least 150 home runs since McCutchen's rookie year of 2009.

As that makes it appear McCutchen is uniquely gifted, let's add there are 11 active players who have crossed those thresholds. All the others have at least a couple of seasons on McCutchen. The leaders are Alex Rodriguez (687 home runs, 326 steals) and Carlos Beltran (392, 311), two of only eight players in baseball history's 300/300 club (with Mays, the Bondses, Dawson, Reggie Sanders and Steve Finley).

McCutchen is halfway there, but his stolen base count the past couple of years (18 and 11) may mean that particular club is beyond him.

On the basepaths

Among all active players, McCutchen has the fifth highest career on-base percentage at .388, behind only Joey Votto, .423; Miguel Cabrera, .399; Albert Pujols, .397; and Joe Mauer, .394.

McCutchen is fourth in career Adjusted On-Base Plus Slugging (OPS+). That adjusts the OPS to the player's ballpark and opponents, with 100 being the league average. The top four in baseball are Pujols, 159; Votto, 156; Cabrera, 155; and McCutchen, 144.

Pirates of the past

So where in Pirates history does McCutchen stand at this point in his career? Only three Pirates had more hits than McCutchen's 1,151 through seven seasons. All are Hall of Famers and all, rather incredibly, played together: Paul "Big Poison" Waner had 1,452 hits from 1926 to 1932; Lloyd "Little Poison" Waner had 1,312 from 1927 to 1933; and Arky Vaughan had 1,231 from 1932 to 1938.

(Those Pirates played in a high-offense era, but in baseball history only Ichiro Suzuki, with 1,592, had more hits than Paul Waner in his first seven seasons.)

If you want to talk total bases, Paul Waner, with 2,155, and Ralph Kiner, with 2,148, are the only Pirates to top McCutchen's 1,918 through seven seasons.

Center of Attention

In short, by almost any measure, McCutchen is a special player. Most of the players mentioned above have plaques in Cooperstown or will. So let's end by comparing McCutchen's start to those of the greatest center fielders in baseball history, because it shows both where he stands and how far he has to go.

The baseball-reference Play Index allows comparisons of center fielders by Wins Above Replacement, or WAR. That's a slippery number that purports to tally how many wins above your average replacement player a star is worth to his team, taking in batting, defense and base running. That's too cosmic for some tastes, but it almost invariably puts the right names at the top.

These are the top center fielders in baseball history, ranked by WAR through their first seven seasons,: Mickey Mantle, 52.2; Willie Mays, 50.9; Joe DiMaggio, 48.7; Ty Cobb, 46.7; Ken Griffey Jr., 40.2; Al Simmons, 39.2; Tris Speaker, 38.4; McCutchen, 38.2; and Trout, 37.9.

Trout has gotten to that number in less than five seasons, finishing first or second in the American League MVP voting in each of his first four full seasons, in 1,627 fewer plate appearances than McCutchen. The two will meet in PNC Park on June 3, 4 and 5, when Trout's geographically greedy Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim arrive. Who knows if the two stars are looking forward to that series? But fans should be.

As great as the starts of their careers have been, both Trout and McCutchen have a long way to go. The five center fielders immediately behind them on the seven-season WAR chart all slipped from their extraordinary starts to wind up in baseball's Hall of Very Good, where there are fond memories but no plaques: Andruw Jones, 37.6; Kenny Lofton, 35.9; Wally Berger, 35.8, Cesar Cedeno, 35.1; and Vada Pinson, 34.8.

They say that's why they keep playing the games. McCutchen has set the bar high for Pirates fans' expectations. History aside, they'll want to see how he helps win the game they're watching right now.

By Brian O'Neill: boneill@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1947.

First Published: April 1, 2016, 8:31 p.m.