What Andrew McCutchen Can Bring to Rangers
The Texas Rangers agreed to a minor league deal with Andrew McCutchen.
This isn’t a blockbuster like MacKenzie Gore, but this deal could have provided more upside for the Rangers than people think.
Platoon Bat
McCutchen will not be an everyday player if he makes the Rangers’ opening day roster. He will likely be a guy who gets to play when there is a lefty on the mound. Evan Carter has noted struggles against lefties, and Nimmo is a lefty himself.
Nimmo had pretty even splits against righties and lefties last year, with a .263 batting average against righties and a .261 batting average against lefties. So he will get to play basically every day.
Another guy that McCutchen could platoon with is Joc Pederson, who had a very disappointing year one with the Rangers. He slashed .181/.285/.614 with nine home runs and 26 RBIs in 96 games with the Rangers. The team and the fans are expecting a big bounce back from Pederson, but after how he played last year, I could see him just hitting against righties.
This would open the door for McCutchen.
However, he will have to deal with some competition.
The Competition
Along with McCutchen, there are a number of right-handed bats that the Rangers have. They have Michael Helman, Sam Haggerty, Ezequiel Duran, and one of either Danny Jansen or Kyle Higashioka. Higgy and Jansen are locks to make the team as they will split time at catcher. Haggerty is pretty much a lock with how he has played in Spring Training.
Duran and Helman have both struggled in Spring Training, with neither impressing. Cam Cauley is another guy that McCutchen needs to beat out. Cauley has not gotten any at-bats before Double-A, but has been one of the best players in Spring Training.
He has a .333 batting average with one home run and three RBIs. He is making the Rangers look at him and could force his way onto the Opening Day roster if he can keep this up. I personally don’t believe that he is going to make the Opening Day roster, and the team will be patient with him.
Conclusion
Andrew McCutchen may not even make the Opening Day roster, but he could make the team and provide a spark and good veteran leadership.
This is a low-risk, high-upside move for the Rangers, so people should be excited to see how it plays out.
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