Welcoming Rangers Give McCutchen Opportunity to Carry on Career

Baseball is fun again for Andrew McCutchen.

Friday is Opening Day for the Texas Rangers, at home against the Cincinnati Reds after one week on the 2026 MLB schedule playing away games in Philadelphia and Baltimore.

The anticipated sold-out crowd at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas will offer a homecoming that first-year Rangers outfielder McCutchen surely won’t forget, and certainly couldn’t have predicted this past off-season.

Anticipating a return to the Pittsburgh Pirates, where he has played for the past three seasons, all on one-year, $5 million contracts, was cause for McCutchen not to go job hunting. Having been drafted, developed, and appreciated for his first nine seasons in the major leagues in Pittsburgh, at 39, McCutchen was looking forward to perhaps a final season in uniform with his “home team.” However, with the Pirates landing several power bats by the time spring training camps were in full swing, what was first thought to be a slam dunk converted to a strikeout for the 18-year MLB veteran.

Then, on March 6, the lifeline McCutchen had hoped for came through. The Rangers offered a minor league deal with an invitation to training camp in Surprise, Arizona. His performance in eight exhibition games, with 19 at-bats and a .421 average, convinced Rangers management to bring the 2013 National League MVP north with them for the regular season.

On March 23, McCutchen’s name was removed from the Triple-A Round Rock (Texas) Express roster, and officially added to the 26-man squad of manager Skip Schumaker. This was a decision Rangers’ Chris Young, president of baseball operations, weighed long and hard.

Speaking at the start of the Rangers season with MLB.com’s Dave Sessions, Young reviewed the process by which McCutchen was judged.

“It was an extremely tough decision, and there were a number of factors that went into it, but ultimately, we felt like Cutch earned it just with his performance,” Young said. “The way he hit the ball, the way his approach is—[we] felt very good that he’s going to help us win a lot of games.”

As a result, McCutchen avoided ending his career on others’ terms rather than his own.

Although the first six games of the season are a small sample of how Texas will ultimately finish come October, it’s been a positive first week for the club. The Rangers won both series in Baltimore and Philadelphia. Losing the first game to the Phillies, and then this Wednesday’s challenge with the Orioles 8–3, in between the Rangers earned a four-game winning streak.

In the five games that McCutchen has appeared in with the Rangers in designated hitter, pinch hitter, and right fielder roles, MLB’s active leader going into the season in games played (2,267) and at-bats (8,364) has performed well. In 14 at-bats, McCutchen is hitting at a .429 clip with six hits, one home run, four RBIs, and three runs scored.

With the Rangers winning the World Series championship just four seasons ago, but missing out on postseason play the past two seasons, improving on an 81–81 finish in 2025 was the priority going into this past off-season.

For McCutchen, who has yet to score a championship ring, being able to chase that dream with the Rangers is something he truly appreciates. Jeremy Gretzer of On SI.com spoke with McCutchen on the day that he signed with Texas and reported to training camp on why he signed with the club.

“Honestly it was one of the first options for me and also at the moment the only option. I understand things weren’t happening and there were opportunities maybe elsewhere … there was no waiting around and I understood that. If I wanted to continue to play … I need to jump on the opportunity and present and that’s what I did here.”

Getting to play the outfield with the Rangers, something Pirates’ management seemed reluctant about in his last three seasons in Pittsburgh—where he only played the field in 20 combined games—McCutchen appears pleased to be more than just a batting option. And in the clubhouse and in the dugout, McCutchen surely will be a positive influence—a mentor for some of the young talent on the Rangers who will be counted on for seasons to come.

Outfielders Evan Carter and Wyatt Langford lead the pack of Texas players learning their way around the big leagues. Combine McCutchen’s experience and talents along with Rangers’ mainstays Corey Seager, Joc Pederson, and Jake Burger, and a dominating pitching crew anchored by Jacob deGrom, and there is promise of a return to the postseason in 2026.

The Pirates visit to the Rangers later this month for three games will be an interesting reunion for McCutchen and his former teammates. Fortunately, McCutchen will be in uniform for the series. McCutchen summed up his feelings to On SI.com about his future in Texas.

“One door closes and another door opens,” McCutchen said. “I’m grateful the Rangers are giving me this chance.”