Rangers to place Wyatt Langford on IL

The Rangers will place outfielder Wyatt Langford on the 10-day injured list, manager Bruce Bochy told Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News (X link) and other media.  Langford left Saturday's game due to what was described as hamstring tightness, and Bochy reports that the injury is a strain, slightly beyond a Grade 1-level injury.  The expected recovery timeline for Langford is three or four weeks.

It has still been less than a year since Langford was selected fourth overall by the Rangers in the 2023 draft, and the star prospect’s quickly moved up the minor league ladder all the way to Triple-A before the end of his first pro season.  Langford posted a 1.157 OPS over 200 plate appearances across four different minor league levels last year, and another huge performance in Spring Training led Texas to make the aggressive decision to include Langford on the Opening Day roster.

Despite all the fanfare, it perhaps isn’t surprising that Langford has thus far been overmatched by big-league pitching.  The 22-year-old has hit only .224/.295/.293 in his first 129 plate appearances in the Show, and he ranks slightly below average in most Statcast categories (though his chase and whiff rates are strong, and his elite speed has lived up to expectations).  While Langford’s barrels and barrel rate are around average, that hasn’t translated into much pop, as he has just one home run and a .069 Isolated Power score.

This isn’t exactly ideal for a designated hitter, which has been Langford’s regular role when he isn’t spelling Evan Carter in left field when a southpaw in on the mound.  Utilityman Ezequiel Duran seems likeliest to slide into this role in Langford’s absence, or Duran could play third base and Josh Smith could get some time in left field.  Depending on how the Rangers approach the situation, Jonathan Ornelas could be called up from Triple-A for further depth, or Texas could go beyond the 40-man roster to select someone with more MLB experience (Matt Duffy, Derek Hill, Jose Barrero, etc.) from Triple-A.