I just saw the best player on the field’: Wyatt Langford is turning heads with every thunderous swing of his bat
SURPRISE, Arizona — During the first week of spring training, Texas Rangers pitching coach Mike Maddux returned to the team’s clubhouse after watching
a live batting practice session and declared: “I just saw the best player
on the field.” The room of coaches and assorted personnel perked up. The
Rangers came into camp off a World Series title but with questionable
starting pitching depth, and they were hopeful Maddux, a coach for 20
seasons, had unearthed his latest gem on the mound.
“Wyatt Langford,” Maddux said.
Langford is not a pitcher. He is a 6-foot-1, 225-pound power-hitting
outfielder, and for a pitching coach — particularly one of Maddux’s
stature — to gravitate so quickly to Langford provided the latest evidence
that the defending champions’ offense could be even better this year.
Maddux’s answer surprised no one internally. After sliding to Texas at the
No. 4 pick in a loaded 2023 draft, Langford, now 22, spent two months
destroying four minor league levels, hitting .360/.480/.677 with 10 home
runs in 200 plate appearances. He arrived this spring “in real competition
to make the club,” according to Texas general manager Chris Young, and only
the Rangers’ outfield excellence stands between Langford and an every-day
big league role.
“I know if I do what I can do,” Langford said, “they’ll give me the
opportunity to showcase that.”
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Langford’s right-handed swing has impressed the Rangers so thoroughly that
he was under substantial consideration to make his major league debut
during the playoffs last year. Toward the end of the regular season, with
right fielder Adolis Garcia injured, the Rangers discussed promoting Langford to fill out an
already-dangerous lineup. They weren’t afraid of his age or inexperience.
As ably as rookie Evan Carter was already garnering headlines with his impressive play, adding Langford
to Carter and center fielder Leody Taveras would’ve provided a needed offensive boost.
Garcia returned, of course, going on a legendary hot streak that netted him
American League Championship Series MVP honors. But Langford remained
around the team during the postseason, joining the Rangers’ so-called
“stay-ready squad” in case of injuries. Quickly, he distinguished himself.
The group would gather at Globe Life Field in the morning and take live
at-bats. Among those on the mound were Jack Leiter, Owen White and Cole Winn, the best pitching prospects in the Rangers’ organization. Danny Duffy, a World Series champion for the 2015 Kansas City Royals with Young as his teammate, was there and already had a deep respect for
Langford after playing with him in Double-A during Duffy’s attempt at a
return to the big leagues.
“I got him out once, and it was the first pitch I ever threw him,” Duffy
said. “It was a changeup. I didn’t want to challenge him right there. Ball
was flying. I hadn’t given up a homer all year, and he wasn’t about to be
my first, but he just missed one. Hit it like 400 feet in the air to the
middle of center field. If he would’ve clipped it, it would’ve gone to the
Embassy Suites.”
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Future Hall of Famer Max Scherzer, then trying to return from an injury, didn’t know who Langford was before
he faced him during a live batting practice in October. Scherzer learned
quickly when Langford hammered a double off the wall. As the month went on
and the Rangers cruised to the AL pennant, Langford continued to
flabbergast onlookers, consistently barreling balls at 110 mph-plus,
territory typically reserved for elite major league hitters. While the
stay-ready crew was sent home after Game 1 of the World Series, Garcia’s
oblique injury suffered in Game 3 reignited the chatter among Rangers
personnel to summon Langford.
“He was right there in the conversation,” Texas bench coach Donnie Ecker
said. “And if he did play, he was going right in the 3-hole.”
“I don’t know if he would’ve hit third, to be honest,” Rangers manager
Bruce Bochy said, “but watching him in the live BPs was impressive. The
numbers, what he was doing, was incredible. You can’t ignore that. And then
you get to know the man and he’s got no fear. And you saw what Carter did.
And so, we had that to go on too that, hey, these guys are different, these
young kids. And so, we didn’t think he’d be afraid. That’s why it was
legit, why he was with us.
“Looking back, I mean, it actually would’ve been pretty cool to see.”
Ultimately, Texas chose to give veteran Travis Jankowski the left-field slot and elevate utility man Ezequiel Duran to the active roster. Both had been there all year. They were capable,
game-tested. With a 2-1 lead in the Series and home-field advantage, the
Rangers didn’t feel the need to push the envelope. The prospect of Langford
in the lineup, though, remained in their thoughts. During the celebration
after the Rangers’ championship-clinching Game 5, one coach, already
looking forward to 2024, said: “And we’re going to have Langford next year,
too.”
“It wasn’t just the performance or the results in the minor leagues,” Young
said. “It was the process metrics, which we value, that suggested he could
come up and have success. His exit velos were extremely high. His chase
rate was extremely low. He was walking. He was showing elite discipline.
It’s everything we saw when we drafted him — and he’d also performed on
the biggest stage in college baseball.
“When you take that into account, the moment wasn’t going to be too big for
him.”
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Langford had laid waste to college baseball over the previous two years,
going from a backup catcher who got four at-bats as a freshman at Florida
to arguably the most productive hitter in the country. As a sophomore,
Langford hit an SEC-leading 26 home runs with a 1.166 OPS. His follow-up
was even better: While his home run total dropped to 21, Langford hit 19
more doubles as a junior and walked 20 more times while maintaining his
strikeout rate. His season ended just one win short of a College World
Series title.
As much as he would’ve enjoyed being the first position player to
participate in the College World Series and the World Series in the same
season, Langford saw 2023 as a grand success — one he spent the offseason
trying to replicate as he trained with hopes of convincing the Rangers he
would be ready this spring. Because Langford understands that dominating in
college and the minors guarantees nothing at the major league level, he has
used the early goings of spring training to pick the brains of veterans Marcus Semien, Nathaniel Lowe and Josh Jung — Langford’s spring roommate — to better understand the fundamentals of
playing his first 162-game season.
“The biggest goal is just to learn as much as I can, make sure to just be
myself and go out there and play and have fun,” Langford said. “If it
happens, then awesome. If not, then I’ll go to wherever they send me to and
do the best I can.
“I know if I do what I can do, they’ll give me the opportunity to showcase
that.”
When he gets that chance might depend on the Rangers’ needs. With Jung and
shortstop Corey Seager sidelined, they could use their 26th roster spot for a utility man to open
the season. What’s clear is that the Rangers won’t keep Langford down just
to keep him down — not with MLB’s rules that award a full year of service
time to top rookies and incentivize teams to promote them by giving draft
picks.
Especially if Rangers coaches continue to see him as the best player on the
field.
“He will tell us when he’s ready,” Young said, “and if that’s now, it’s
now.”
Source: Less than a year after being drafted, the Rangers’ 22-year-old outfielder appears destined for MLB stardom.
