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Wyatt Langford

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Wyatt Langford
Langford with the Texas Rangers in 2024
Texas Rangers – No. 36
Outfielder
Born: (2001-11-15) November 15, 2001 (age 22)
Gainesville, Florida, U.S.
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
MLB debut
March 28, 2024, for the Texas Rangers
MLB statistics
(through 2024 season)
Batting average.253
Home runs16
Runs batted in74
Teams

Wyatt Michael Langford (born November 15, 2001) is an American professional baseball outfielder for the Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball (MLB). Langford played college baseball for the Florida Gators. He was selected fourth overall by the Rangers in the 2023 MLB draft, and made his MLB debut in 2024.

Amateur career

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Langford attended Trenton High School in Trenton, Florida. He played baseball, football, and basketball at Trenton. In 2019, he won the 2019 Perfect Game National Home Run Derby.[1] Langford committed to the University of Florida to play college baseball.[2]

As a freshman at Florida in 2021, Langford played in four games and had one hit over four at-bats. That summer he played for the Charlottesville Tom Sox in the Valley Baseball League, posting a .346/.459/.527/.987 slash line with 3 home runs and 20 runs batted in (RBI).[3] In 2022, he started all 66 games and hit 26 home runs, which tied Matt LaPorta for most home runs in a season by a Gators player.[4] He finished the season, slashing .356/.447/.719 with 63 RBI. After the season, he played for the United States collegiate national team during the summer.[5][6] He also played in nine games for the Peninsula Pilots of the Coastal Plain League.[7]

Langford entered the 2023 season as one of the top prospects for the 2023 Major League Baseball draft and the potential first overall pick.[8][9][10] Langford slashed .373/.498/.784/1.282 with 21 home runs, 57 RBI, and 9 stolen bases for the Gators in 2023.[11] Langford was a 2023 Golden Spikes Award Semifinalist.[12] He was a 2023 unanimous First Team All-American. Langford helped lead Florida to the 2023 Men's College World Series finals and was named to the 2023 College World Series All-Tournament Team.[13]

Professional career

[edit]

The Texas Rangers chose Langford in the first round, with the fourth overall selection, in the 2023 MLB draft.[14] On July 18, Langford signed with Texas for a $8 million signing bonus.[14] Langford made his professional debut with the ACL Rangers of the Rookie-level Arizona Complex League, hitting .385 with 1 home run and 4 RBI over 3 games.[15] He was promoted to the Hickory Crawdads of the High-A South Atlantic League on August 2.[16] Over 24 games for Hickory, he hit .333/.453/.644/1.097 with 5 home runs, 15 RBI, and 7 stolen bases.[17] Langford was then promoted to the Frisco RoughRiders of the Double-A Texas League for the final 12 games of their season, hitting .405/.519/.762/1.280 with 4 home runs, 10 RBI, and 1 stolen base.[18] Langford's rapid ascent through the minor leagues contained one final stop in 2023, with a promotion on September 19 to the Round Rock Express of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League for the final 6 games of their season.[19][20]

Langford made the Rangers Opening Day roster in 2024.[21] On April 28, he hit his first home run, an inside-the-park home run off Andrew Abbott of the Cincinnati Reds.[22] Playing three games at Round Rock in May, he batted .200/.273/.200.[23] On June 22, against the Kansas City Royals, Langford hit his first career grand slam off reliever Ángel Zerpa in the eighth inning.[24] On June 30, he hit for the cycle against the Baltimore Orioles, the 11th player to accomplish the feat in franchise history.[25][a] On September 3, Langford hit a walk-off grand slam against the New York Yankees, the 8th one in franchise history.[27] Additionally, he is the first player since Jackie Robinson, and the first rookie ever, to hit an inside-the-park homer, a walk-off grand slam, and hit for the cycle in the same season.[28]

In October 2024, he was named AL Player of the Month and AL Rookie of the Month for September 2024.[29]

Notes

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  1. ^ Two cycles were hit by the same Ranger, Adrian Beltre, and one cycle was hit by Jim King in 1964, when the franchise played as the Washington Senators.[26]

References

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  1. ^ Ridaught, Mike (June 29, 2020). "Wyatt Langford signs with Gators after stellar career at Trenton High School". Mainstreet Daily News Gainesville. Retrieved September 9, 2024.
  2. ^ Savage, Larry (November 20, 2019). "Trenton's Langford signs baseball scholarship with Gators". Gainesville Sun. Retrieved September 9, 2024.
  3. ^ Argo, David (June 19, 2023). "Ten Players Representing Tom Sox in 2023 Men's College World Series". Charlottesville Tom Sox. Retrieved July 12, 2023.
  4. ^ Ridaught, Mike (December 20, 2022). "UF's Langford putting Trenton on the map". Mainstreet Daily News Gainesville. Retrieved October 6, 2024.
  5. ^ Hall, Graham (June 10, 2022). "UF sophomore Wyatt Langford to compete for spot on USA Collegiate National Team roster". Gator Sports. Retrieved October 6, 2024.
  6. ^ Gish, C.J. (July 5, 2022). "Trenton native lands on USA Baseball roster". Mainstreet Daily News Gainesville. Retrieved October 6, 2024.
  7. ^ Rhiel, Connor (June 24, 2022). "Wyatt Langford taking Peninsula by storm". WVEC. Retrieved July 12, 2023.
  8. ^ "MLB Draft Quick Hits: Florida Outfielder Wyatt Langford". Baseball America. January 24, 2023. Retrieved October 6, 2024.
  9. ^ Whitley, David (February 16, 2023). "After last season's blastoff for the Florida Gators, how far will Wyatt Langford go in 2023?". Gator Sports. Retrieved October 6, 2024.
  10. ^ Rosenberg, David (January 4, 2023). "MLB Pipeline projects Florida OF as No. 1 pick of 2023 MLB draft". Gators Wire. On July 9th, 2023, Langford was drafted 4th overall by the Texas Rangers.
  11. ^ Brockway, Kevin (July 9, 2023). "What the Texas Rangers are getting in Florida baseball OF Wyatt Langford". Gator Sports. Retrieved July 12, 2023.
  12. ^ "Golden Spikes Award 2023 Candidates". USA Baseball. Retrieved June 14, 2024.
  13. ^ "Wyatt Langford - Baseball". Florida Gators. Retrieved July 12, 2023.
  14. ^ a b Landry, Kennedi (July 18, 2023). "Rangers select Florida OF Wyatt Langford at No. 4". MLB.com. Retrieved July 18, 2023.
  15. ^ Rosenberg, David (August 1, 2023). "Former Gator Wyatt Langford promoted to High-A". Gators Wire. Retrieved August 3, 2023.
  16. ^ McFarland, Shawn (August 2, 2023). "Rangers' first-round pick Wyatt Langford earns promotion to High-A after three pro games". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved August 3, 2023.
  17. ^ McFarland, Shawn (September 4, 2023). "Rangers promote 2023 first-round pick Wyatt Langford to Double-A Frisco". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved September 21, 2023.
  18. ^ "Texas Rangers Prospect OF Wyatt Langford Promoted to Round Rock". MiLB.com. September 19, 2023. Retrieved September 21, 2023.
  19. ^ Drottar, Casey (September 20, 2023). "Langford arrives in Triple-A, promptly swats 4 hits". MLB.com. Retrieved September 21, 2023.
  20. ^ Cooper, J. J.; Pontes, Geoff; Glaser, Kyle; Norris, Josh (September 19, 2023). "Prospect Hot Sheet (9/19/23): Wyatt Langford Makes Quite the Introduction". Baseball America. Retrieved September 21, 2023.
  21. ^ Landry, Kennedi (March 23, 2024). "Langford, No. 6 overall prospect, makes Rangers' Opening Day roster". MLB.com. Retrieved June 14, 2024.
  22. ^ Landry, Kennedi (April 28, 2024). "Prospect Langford's 1st big league homer a wild one". MLB.com. MLB Advanced Media, LP. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  23. ^ "Wyatt Langford Amateur, College & Minor Leagues Statistics". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 6, 2024.
  24. ^ "Gray pitches 2-hit ball over 5 innings and Langford hits grand slam to lift Rangers over Royals 6-0". ESPN.com. Associated Press. Archived from the original on June 23, 2024. Retrieved October 6, 2024.
  25. ^ Trezza, Joe (June 30, 2024). "Rookie Langford tallies 1st cycle of '24, 11th in Rangers history". MLB.com. Retrieved July 1, 2024.
  26. ^ Eagle, Ed (June 30, 2024). "Players who have hit for the cycle". MLB.com. Retrieved July 1, 2024.
  27. ^ Garcia, Art (September 4, 2024). "Texas Rangers Rookie Wyatt Langford Makes Franchise History in Walk-Off Win Over New York Yankees". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved September 4, 2024.
  28. ^ "Rangers rookie Wyatt Langford matches Jackie Robinson with latest hitting milestone". The Dallas Morning News. September 4, 2024. Retrieved September 4, 2024.
  29. ^ "Rangers outfielder Wyatt Langford selected American League Player and Rookie of the Month for September". MLB.com. October 1, 2024. Retrieved October 6, 2024.
[edit]
Achievements
Preceded by Hitting for the cycle
June 30, 2024 		Succeeded by
Awards
Preceded by American League Player of the Month
September 2024 		Most recent
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