{"id":570684,"date":"2026-02-13T18:35:20","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T18:35:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/570684\/"},"modified":"2026-02-13T18:35:20","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T18:35:20","slug":"rangers-waiver-claim-catcher-makes-big-impact-at-camp-with-austin-hedges-personality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/570684\/","title":{"rendered":"Rangers\u2019 waiver claim catcher makes big impact at camp with \u2018Austin Hedges personality\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

SURPRISE, Ariz. \u2014 You cannot make the team in the first week of spring training<\/a>, is how the line goes. But you certainly can make an impression. <\/p>\n

And after just a few days, catcher Willie MacIver has stood out for Rangers manager Skip Schumaker. <\/p>\n

\u201cHis personality is unbelievable,\u201d Schumaker said of the 29-year-old who was claimed off waivers<\/a> from the transient Athletics in November. \u201cWith every pitch, there is something positive coming from that kid\u2019s mouth. I think everybody is probably requesting to throw to him because they feel like a Hall of Famer when they come off the mound. It\u2019s a blast to hear him talk it honestly.\u201d<\/p>\n

MacIver, who got 33 games of experience last year with the A\u2019s, will likely be the Rangers\u2019 third catching option this season behind Kyle Higashioka and Danny Jansen<\/a>. He has two minor league options remaining, so he can be shuttled back and forth between Round Rock and the majors if either of the two primary catchers suffers a minor injury, but the club also believes he\u2019s capable of extended play in the case of a more traumatic injury.<\/p>\n

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He\u2019s a solid receiver, but his personality can also have a positive impact beyond what he does on the field. To that point, Schumaker busted out a comparison. He invoked the patron saint of good vibes<\/a> among journeymen catchers.<\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

\"Texas<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean honestly, he reminds me of an Austin Hedges personality,\u201d Schumaker said. \u201cHe said, \u2018God\u2019s blessed me with one thing for sure, I always wake up in a really good mood and it\u2019s all day long.\u2019\u201c<\/p>\n

Rangers fans should be familiar with the Hedges\u2019 vibe factor. A late acquisition during the 2023 stretch run, Hedges infectious personality helped inject some additional energy into the Rangers in the latter stages of the 2023 season and kept things loose through the playoffs. <\/p>\n

So, you could say MacIver has at least one tool in his belt.<\/p>\n

Twitter\/X: @Evan_P_Grant<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Texas<\/a>There\u2019s still hope for top Rangers prospect Sebastian Walcott to see the field in 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Walcott, one of the top 10 prospects in baseball, isn\u2019t ruling out a 2026 return after elbow surgery.<\/p>\n

\"Detroit<\/a>Detroit Pistons\u2019 Cade Cunningham buys minority ownership stake in Texas Rangers<\/a><\/p>\n

Cunningham, a native of Arlington, is among the athlete investors in the deal.<\/p>\n

Find more Rangers coverage from The Dallas Morning News here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Click or tap here to sign up for our Rangers newsletter.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SURPRISE, Ariz. \u2014 You cannot make the team in the first week of spring training, is how the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":570685,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2393],"tags":[5,4,149,14902,1567,69,3240],"class_list":{"0":"post-570684","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-texas-rangers","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-mlb","10":"tag-rangers","11":"tag-skip-schumaker","12":"tag-texas","13":"tag-texas-rangers","14":"tag-texasrangers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116064769774453321","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/570684","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=570684"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/570684\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/570685"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=570684"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=570684"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=570684"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}