Bochy says McCutchen will play RF

After acquiring Andrew McCutchen from the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday, San Francisco Giants manager Bruce Bochy said the star outfielder will play right field for his new club, according to ESPN's Jerry Crasnick.

With McCutchen taking over right-field duties, Hunter Pence will shift to left field.

The 31-year-old McCutchen has played 1,314 of his 1,327 career games in center field, winning a Gold Glove in 2012.

"I'm looking forward to playing right field," McCutchen said on a conference call Tuesday, according to Buster Olney of ESPN, adding, "It's one place where people can't say my defensive (metrics) are bad."

After a down year on both sides of the ball in 2016, McCutchen opened the 2017 campaign as the Pirates' right fielder. However, after 13 games in the corner, Starling Marte - who had taken over at center - was suspended, and McCutchen was given his old job back.

With McCutchen and Pence manning the corner-outfield positions for the Giants on Opening Day, the center-field job is still up for grabs. On Tuesday, the Giants were reportedly looking at external candidates, such as Jarrod Dyson, Jon Jay, and Cameron Maybin.

Denard Span played the most innings in center for the Giants in 2017, but was traded to the Tampa Bay Rays as a part of the Evan Longoria deal. Among internal candidates who remain on the roster, San Francisco still has Gorkys Hernandez and Austin Slater.