Andrew McCutchen has hit the ground running in his attempt to make the Rangers’ Opening Day roster, as the veteran has a blistering .583/.706/.833 slash line over 17 Cactus League plate appearances. Nothing is yet guaranteed for Cutch since he is in camp on a minor league contract, yet the 39-year-old is using the rather awkward end of his tenure with the Pirates as some extra incentive.
“I haven’t been in this position, in a place where there are a lot of doubts from other people in quite a long time. I’m motivated in a different way,” McCutchen told the Dallas Morning News’ Evan Grant. “I remember getting invitations to spring training when I was 20-21 years old, knowing I wasn’t going to make the team, but had the approach that I wanted to showcase that I can do this here, no matter the age. This is kind of the same thing, only the ages are different. I want to show people that I can continue to play this game at a very high level.”
McCutchen’s second stint in Pittsburgh began with two above-average offensive seasons, but he hit a more modest .239/.333/.367 over 551 PA in 2025, translating to a 95 wRC+ and the first sub-replacement (-0.1 fWAR) performance of his 17-year Major League career. Hitting in a pitcher-friendly venue like PNC Park has never been easy for batters, though McCutchen observed that “we had some of the same ballpark effect the Rangers had last year, that the ball wasn’t really flying to left field. You weren’t getting rewarded as often and I was trying to find ways to improve the numbers. How can I get hits? How can I get on base? How can I work counts? I put my body into positions that weren’t ideal.”
“I needed to get back to basics and get myself in the most optimal position for 39 that I could get. And, honestly, I feel like I’m in a better spot than I have been in a number of years.”
Despite the subpar production, there was still an expectation that McCutchen would again re-sign with the Pirates, as there seemed to be an unofficial agreement in place that the veteran would end his career in a Pittsburgh uniform. As McCutchen puts it, “I was pretty vocal about doing that, and wanted that. The other side also was pretty vocal about wanting to do that too, but they wanted to do it a little sooner.”
The apparent lack of response or even communication on the Pirates’ part led to McCutchen going public with his frustrations on social media in late January. The Bucs then signed Marcell Ozuna in early February, and Ozuna’s usage in the DH role more or less closed the door on the chances of McCutchen remaining in Pittsburgh.
Should McCutchen break camp with the Rangers, he might get a bit more outfield time than he did with the Pirates, but he’d likely still be primarily used as the right-handed side of a DH platoon with Joc Pederson. Of course, this assumes that Pederson will hit well enough to hold his own spot in the lineup, which is no guarantee since the veteran slugger is also trying to bounce back from a disappointing year.
After signing a two-year, $37MM free agent deal with Texas last winter, Pederson hit only .181/.285/.328 over 306 PA. He was off to an ice-cold start even before he missed two months due to a hand fracture, and he hit only marginally better after his return from the injured list in late July.
Pederson told MLB.com’s Kennedi Landry that “the mentals of not playing good for so long” contributed to his inability to get out of his funk. “Even the whole second half of when I came back, things started to trend in the right direction, but still I was not where I wanted to be….We have so many goals, so everything is going to be tailored around that, how to contribute to a winning team, how to be an above-average productive player.”
An offseason of work with Rangers hitting coach Justin Viele can hopefully get Pederson back on track, though the numbers haven’t yet been there for Pederson in Spring Training. The $18.5MM salary owed to Pederson in 2027 gives the Rangers incentive to give him plenty of time to find himself at the plate, though another extended slump might lead to some hard questions about Pederson’s playing time (or even a spot on the roster). Another DH candidate like McCutchen could emerge, or Texas might want to give multiple players a shot at DH at-bats to help keep people fresh.
In some injury news from the team’s camp, catcher Kyle Higashioka is expected to return to game action tomorrow, manager Skip Schumaker told Evan Grant and other reporters. Back stiffness has kept Higashioka sidelined from games since March 5, though he returned to catching and batting work against live pitching. Assuming no setbacks once he gets back on the field, Higashioka should have enough time to ramp up and be ready for Opening Day.
Higashioka and the newly-signed Danny Jansen will share the Rangers’ catching duties this season. Another free agent signing from the 2024-25 offseason, the first season of Higashioka’s two-year, $13.5MM contract resulted in a .241/.291/.403 slash line and 11 homers over 327 PA (93 wRC+).
