SURPRISE, Ariz. — He understood the assignment. Andrew McCutchen is 39 years old and has played more games than any active player. Since he posted an Instagram story in a cowboy hat and western wear after signing a minor league deal with the Rangers, we’ll go there: This ain’t his first rodeo.
He knew he had two weeks — tops — to make an impression on the Rangers.
It took him only one.
“He’s a veteran pro who came ready to play, ready to produce right away,” manager Skip Schumaker said. “His at-bats have been like I remember them. He doesn’t swing outside the strike zone. Long at-bats. He’ll do damage in the strike zone. So, I’m very impressed where he’s at. Not surprised, because that’s what I expected.”
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Some context: McCutchen, who signed a week ago Friday, took two days of at-bats in back field minor league games. He doubled in his first at-bat back there. He hasn’t stopped doubling since. In four “A” games, he’s scorched three doubles, had three singles and walked four times. He made outs just three times in his first 12 plate appearances. He swung and missed three times in 40 pitches.
Sure, the Rangers expected McCutchen to come to camp ready for the challenge. Just maybe not this ready.
So let’s try once more.
This? You expected this, Skip?
“Yeah, probably not,” the manager allowed. “But I knew he was ready, just because of the video work that we saw. But he’s jumped in and hit plus velo right away. I mean, there are guys [who have been in camps all spring], who aren’t there yet on the velo. So, yeah, it’s been impressive.”
Perhaps there was one other thing for which the Rangers weren’t exactly prepared – just how motivated McCutchen is. He’s said he has a “chip on my shoulder.” That’ll happen when, speaking of shoulders, the team with which you expected to finish your career gives you a cold one.
McCutchen, who spent his first nine years in the majors in Pittsburgh and the last three, was the best thing to happen to Pirates baseball between Barry Bonds and Paul Skenes. He was the only thing to celebrate in a once-proud baseball town. In McCutchen’s first spin in Pittsburgh, he won an MVP, finished in the top five three times and took the Pirates to three playoff berths. They are the only three playoff berths since Bonds left for San Francisco. That was 35 years ago.
When McCutchen went back to Pittsburgh in 2023, after five years drifting around four other clubs, it was the idea that he’d finish out his career there mentoring young players and eventually walk across the Roberto Clemente Bridge into retirement.
“I thought I was going to do that,” McCutchen told The Dallas Morning News. “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.”
McCutchen isn’t sure what exactly the Pirates had planned; all he knew was that he wanted to keep playing. And for them. He’d expressed as much to Pirates owner Bob Nutting in an offseason conversation. Then he waited for a response. He figured he’d hear something directly, especially since he’d negotiated the three previous one-year deals with Pittsburgh without an agent.
It never came. At first, McCutchen was puzzled. He won’t say he was hurt. Confused. But not hurt. Just wished the Pirates had acted with more transparency if they didn’t want to continue the relationship. Would have made it easier to pursue a job elsewhere. But it also served a purpose. The episode added a bit of extra edge to his motivation. Even before the cold shoulder, he’d started working on some swing changes to make his swing “more repeatable,” and improve mobility. He knew at 39, coming off the lowest slugging percentage and OPS of his career, he needed to make changes to account for age. It all drove him a little harder.
“Last year wasn’t the way I planned to go out,” McCutchen said. “My body wasn’t moving the right way. 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.”
Doesn’t mean anything is guaranteed. The Rangers signed veteran Mark Canha to a minor league deal two weeks before McCutchen. And Canha, who entered Sunday hitting .300 for the spring, has had a solid spring. Canha, at 37, may be better suited to play the outfield than the former Gold Glove winner, though McCutchen said a big part of his offseason work was to erase any stigma he’d become “one dimensional and a DH who could barely do that.”
A year ago, his bat speed averaged 71.1 mph, according to MLBStatcast, which ranked in just the 34th percentile. Spring training bat speeds aren’t officially tracked, but the Rangers feel they’ve seen a repeated swing and more bat speed. It seems to have shown up in his exit velocities. Though a small sample size, McCutchen went into Sunday averaging 91.5 mph on exit velocity; last spring it was 87.5 mph.
“He is repeating the swing with each at-bat,” hitting instructor Justin Viele said. “His at-bat quality is just different than what I saw watching video last year. He’s smart and very cerebral in that regard; he’s made the adjustments. I assumed when he came here, getting into his timing quickly would be a challenge, but he’s turning around heaters.”
He’s got another week to go to finish things off, but if Week Two goes as well as the first, the question may not be will he make the roster; it might be about the possibility of him being the alternative DH if Joc Pederson struggles.
“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 said. “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.”
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