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Rangers' Joc Pederson: Not starting in series finale
Rotowire
Pederson is out of the lineup for Thursday's game against the Athletics.
Pederson will take a seat for the second time in the series and has now hit the bench for all five of the Rangers' matchups with left-handed starting pitchers this season. Platoon mate Andrew McCutchen will replace Pederson in the lineup at designated hitter and will bat sixth.
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Rangers' Joc Pederson: Idle Friday
Rotowire
Pederson isn't in the lineup for Friday's game against the Dodgers.
Pederson lost his three-game hitting streak with an 0-for-2 effort Wednesday, and he'll now receive a day off to begin Texas' three-game set in Los Angeles. Andrew McCutchen will fill in as the designated hitter and bat fifth.
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Rangers' Joc Pederson: Launches first home run
Rotowire
Pederson went 1-for-3 with a walk and a home run in Sunday's 2-1 loss to Cincinnati.
Pederson halted an 0-for-16 stretch to start the season with a seventh-inning home run. It's been a frustrating start to 2026, the second straight season he's opened with a significant slump. In 2025, Pederson was batting .052 (3-for-58) after 20 games on his way to a .181 average and nine home runs over 96 games.
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Rangers' Joc Pederson: Idle against southpaw
Rotowire
Pederson is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Orioles.
The left-handed-hitting Pederson has now hit the bench for each of the Rangers' first three matchups versus southpaws, which doesn't come as a major surprise with the 33-year-old having produced a 79 wRC+ over 668 career plate appearances against lefties. Andrew McCutchen is expected to serve as Pederson's primary platoon mate this season, but Brandon Nimmo will be in the designated-hitter spot Wednesday while McCutchen draws his first start in right field.
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Rangers' Joc Pederson: In lineup against righty
Rotowire
Pederson served as the designated hitter and went 0-for-1 with a walk in Saturday's 5-4 extra-inning win over Philadelphia.
Pederson, who was held out of the first game of the series with left-hander Cristopher Sanchez on the mound, got the start against righty Aaron Nola. As soon as lefty reliever Tanner Banks entered the contest, Texas manager Skip Schumaker sent Andrew McCutchen out to pinch hit for Pederson. It looks like DH will be strict platoon between the two.
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Rangers' Joc Pederson: Spring slide continues
Rotowire
Pederson went 0-for-2 in Friday's spring game against San Francisco.
Pederson's struggles from 2025 have carried over into 2026. He's batting just .171 (6-for-35) with zero RBI over 15 Cactus League games. Pederson is expected to be part of a rotation at designated hitter, which could also include players that have been more productive this spring. Both Andrew McCutchen (.533 average) and Mark Canha (.316, three HR) have been better than Pederson.
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Rangers' Joc Pederson: Limited impact in spring
Rotowire
Pederson, who will start at first base and bat second in Monday's game against the Padres, has gone 4-for-17 with one walk and four strikeouts through his first eight Cactus League contests.
Coming off a rough first season with Texas in which he posted a career-low .614 OPS over 305 plate appearances, Pederson decided against becoming a free agent over the winter and picked up his $18.5 million player option to remain with the Rangers for 2026, per Kennedi Landry of MLB.com. While Pederson is likely to maintain a regular spot in the lineup as the Rangers' primary designated hitter against right-handed pitching, he hasn't shown many early signs of reclaiming the power production that eluded him in 2025. All four of his hits so far in spring training have been singles.
Pederson is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Guardians.
The left-handed-hitting Pederson will remain absent from the starting nine for the second straight day to close out the season while the Guardians send another southpaw (Logan Allen) to the hill. Adolis Garcia will serve as Texas' designated hitter in Pederson's stead.
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Rangers' Joc Pederson: Leaves yard
Rotowire
Pederson went 1-for-3 with a solo home run in Tuesday's loss to the Twins.
Pederson began his night with a solo home run off Zebby Matthews on Matthews' second pitch of the game. It was Pederson's first homer since Aug. 31 and just his second extra-base hit over that span. Pederson remained in the leadoff spot and could stay there the rest of the week when there's a right-hander on the mound. The Rangers are currently slated to face four more righties this week.
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Rangers' Joc Pederson: Bats leadoff
Rotowire
Pederson went 1-for-4 with a walk and a run scored in Saturday's 4-3 loss to Miami.
Pederson batted leadoff for just the second time this season. He got on base in his first two plate appearances and scored after walking in the third inning. Josh Smith, who normally leads off for Texas, was dropped to sixth in the order. It's unclear if manager Bruce Bochy plans to continue using Pederson atop the order against right-handed pitching, or if this was a one-off decision.
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Rangers' Joc Pederson: Drives in two in loss
Rotowire
Pederson went 2-for-3 with two walks and two RBI in Sunday's 5-2 extra-inning loss to the Mets.
Pederson didn't waste a bases-loaded opportunity in the seventh inning, when he delivered a two-out, two-run single to tie the game. The multi-hit effort was a relief for the Rangers and Pederson, who entered the game on a 1-for-18 (.056) run.
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Rangers' Joc Pederson: Idle against southpaw
Rotowire
Pederson is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Astros.
Pederson will join fellow left-handed hitters Alejandro Osuna, Josh Smith, Rowdy Tellez and Dustin Harris on the bench as the Rangers stock up on right-handed bats to counter southpaw Framber Valdez. Jonah Heim will assume designated-hitter duties with Pederson out of the lineup.
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Rangers' Joc Pederson: Goes yard again
Rotowire
Pederson went 2-for-5 with a two-run home run and an RBI double during Sunday's 9-6 win over the Athletics.
The 33-year-old tagged J.T. Ginn for a two-run homer in the first inning, marking Pederson's fourth home run in his last 38 plate appearances spanning nine games. He had gone yard just four times in 195 plate appearances before the stretch. In those nine games, Pederson is 12-for-38 (.316) with 12 RBI and three doubles.
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Rangers' Joc Pederson: Runs hit streak to eight games
Rotowire
Pederson went 1-for-5 with a double and a run scored in Saturday's 9-3 win over the Athletics.
Pederson smacked a seventh-inning double to extend a hit streak to eight games, easily his best stretch of a trying season. He's gone 10-for-33 with five extra-base hits, nine RBI and six runs scored during the streak. The Rangers are finally getting what they paid for when they signed Pederson to a one-year, $18.5 million contract this past winter with a player option for 2026 -- he's slashing .277/.338/.554 with five home runs and 12 RBI over 23 contests in August.
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Rangers' Joc Pederson: Stays hot in blowout
Rotowire
Pederson went 2-for-6 with a three-run home run, two additional RBI and two additional runs scored during Wednesday's 20-3 win over the Angels.
Pederson lifted his fifth home run of August with a three-run blast off Jack Kochanowicz in the second inning and extended his hit streak to seven games. The 33-year-old slugger set season highs in runs scored and RBI during the offensive outburst. His previous best RBI total was two. During his hit streak, Pederson has gone 9-for-28 (.321) with nine RBI and five runs scored.
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Rangers' Joc Pederson: Walks off Cleveland
Rotowire
Pederson went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI in Friday's 4-3 win over the Guardians.
Pederson laced a first-pitch double to drive in the game-winning run in the ninth inning for the walk-off win. His hit followed a game-tying single by Corey Seager on the first pitch he saw, as it appears the Rangers had a plan to jump early on Cleveland closer Cade Smith. Pederson has hit safely in four consecutive games, going 5-for-15 with a double, a home run and three RBI.
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Rangers' Joc Pederson: Lifts homer in loss
Rotowire
Pederson went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Tuesday's 5-2 loss to Kansas City.
Pederson went deep in the fourth inning to give Texas a 2-1 lead. The homer was his third in 21 games since he returned from a hand injury in late July. It's been a forgettable season for the slugger, who opened 2025 with an epic slump (.052 average over his first 20 games) and never recovered. Prior to the injury, Pederson was batting .131, and since his return, he's batting .196.
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Rangers' Joc Pederson: Sitting out against righty
Rotowire
Pederson is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Blue Jays.
Texas included him in the initial lineup released for Sunday's contest, but Pederson was scratched for non-health-related reasons, per Shawn McFarland of The Dallas Morning News. Rowdy Tellez will fill in as the designated hitter.
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