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Wyatt Langford hits towering home run, first of spring training

IMG_0985by:Griffin McVeigh03/11/25

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Mar 18, 2024; Surprise, Arizona, USA; Texas Rangers outfielder Wyatt Langford against the Seattle Mariners during a spring training baseball game at Surprise Stadium. Mandatory © Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Wyatt Langford enters his second season with the Texas Rangers with a ton of expectations. After spending his entire rookie campaign with the big league club, Langford is in position to truly break out in 2025. And while it’s just spring training, the home run account was opened on Tuesday.

The Rangers were hosting a division rival, the Los Angeles Angels, for an afternoon bout. Langford already had a hit to his name but got a 1-0 slider on the inside portion of the plate. He got all of the ball and the only question was whether it would land fair or foul.

Fair wound up being the answer, giving Langford a two-run home run to expand the lead to 4-0. An encouraging sign for the second-year player after previously missing some time due to an injury.

Langford was shut down for around a week in late February due to a “mild oblique injury.” From the start, the Rangers were not concerned about Opening Day and the initial diagnosis has turned out to be true. Recovery appears to be complete as Langford clearly is showing signs of the power he possesses.

“I felt great, baseball-wise, but mostly physically,” Langford said Sunday. “I felt really good. It’s good to get out there and get my feet underneath me. It’s hard to say how long it’ll take to get my timing. Obviously, I felt pretty good out there today, but then tomorrow, you could feel like crap. That’s just baseball. But right now, I feel pretty good. I’m pretty excited.”

Texas has got immediate returns from the fourth overall pick of the 2023 MLB Draft. Langford broke last year’s spring training with the team and never got sent down to the minors. A slow start on the year was quickly forgotten in September as Langford looked like one of the best young players in baseball.

Langford wound up hitting .253 in 499 at-bats with 16 home runs and 74 RBIs. His slugging percentage of .740 was seventh among rookies who played at least 100 games. But as mentioned, September is when things really came together as Langford slashed .300/.386/.610. Half of his home runs and 20 RBIs were produced during baseball’s final month.

The Rangers are expected to have Langford be the everyday left fielder and slot into the lineup quite high throughout the 2025 season. Hopefully, the home runs follow him from Surprise, AZ, to Arlington.