Image credit: Jerome Miron-USA Today Sports
Translated by Jose M. Hernandez Lagunes
The situation: Wyatt Langford hit .350/.403/.683 in spring training, earning a starting spot for the defending World Series champion Texas Rangers just nine months after being drafted.
Background: Langford was a well-regarded third base/catcher prospect entering the spring of 2020, but he was not notable enough to be drafted in the five-round draft that summer and enrolled at the University of Florida, just a few miles from your natal city. He barely played as a true freshman, seeing four plate appearances as a pinch-hitter with only one infield, appearing once in the field at first base. That summer, he played catcher in the Valley Baseball League with a wood bat and excelled, hitting .346 for power. It was the first sign of what was to come.
Entering his sophomore season, Langford was fighting for Florida’s starting left fielder job; Upon leaving it, he was fighting with Dylan Crews to be the best prospect in all of college baseball. He took advantage of the playing time amid leaps in his strength and conditioning, ultimately hitting 26 home runs and batting .355/.447/.719 in one of the greatest performances of the last decade in college baseball. From there, he continued to hit, in the summer Coastal Plains League, for the US team, and eventually his third season in Florida was even better: .373/.498/.784. We ranked him as a No. 2 prospect in the 2023 draft, right behind Crews, calling him “a near-generational college hitting prospect.”
Langford surprisingly slipped a bit on draft day, going fourth to the Rangers and signing for as much as $8 million; Although it’s still early days, the Tigers selecting Max Clark third already seemed like a significant mistake at the time and he hasn’t aged well since. He then tore through four levels of the minor leagues over the next two months, hitting .360/.480/.677 with more walks than strikeouts. He finished the season in Triple-A and was about to make his major league debut last year, in the World Series. Once again, he ranked as the closest No. 2 prospect of the Top 101 prospects of 2024, just behind Jackson Holliday, and beat out playoff sensation Evan Carter as the top prospect in the Rangers’ system. .
Viewers report: Langford tends to be one of the best hitters in the game. You can basically use any evaluation method you want to get to that point: he’s had impeccable in-game performance over the past two calendar years, he has near-flawless analytical traits, and even if you didn’t know any of that and were limited to Watching him you would be able to clearly distinguish him as the best player on the field. A rotational marvel from the right box, he makes a quick, violent move on the ball from an even stance with a light leg kick, uncorking a ferocious uppercut swing that regularly produces exit velocities of over 110 mph in the air. He remains balanced and controlled despite the fury of his swing and has innate ability with the bat, with superior contact rates at all levels. He is a patient and disciplined hitter who recognizes pitches much better than he has any right to, and his hitting style is oriented to fly and pull. Basically, there is no known flaw in Langford’s offensive game and, unless one emerges quickly, he could continue hitting at the insane level he has hit so far.
So why wasn’t he the best prospect in baseball? Well, that’s as much a statement about how good Jackson Holliday is as anything else, but Langford has major defensive questions. As hinted at above, he’s only played outfield regularly for about two years, with most of his experience in left, and his routes and reactions aren’t good currently. He’s a good runner and an excellent athlete, and the speed makes up for his poor trajectories on the turf, so it would be strange for such a fast player to be a poor outfielder forever. But that’s more than an educated guess we’re typically comfortable with when making a projection, and Langford’s overall value would weaken quite a bit if he’s a long-term negative at a corner spot.
Immediate future in the Gedge leagues: Langford is here to play, and I would expect him to quickly take over a spot in the middle of the defending champions’ batting order; He is now the clear favorite for American League Rookie of the Year. What will be interesting to watch is where he plays; Texas gets its starting trio Evan Carter/Leody Taveras/Adolis García back, and given his defensive abilities Langford could spend a lot of time at DH this year.—Jarrett Seidler
Impact on fantasy teams: Jarrett said it above: Langford is already a near-flawless hitter, with incredible analytics and ridiculous athleticism. The only thing he hasn’t done in his budding professional career is perform at the Major League level, and that’s simply because he hasn’t had the opportunity. Contact damage? Tons. Plate discipline and pitch recognition? Stellar. Skill with the bat? Clear. Defensive feat? Who cares? We are in the Fantastic Impact section.
Langford projects as a four-and-a-half class fantasy hero, and appears to be increasing his ADP or auction value with each draft as we get closer to Opening Day. The PECOTA projection isn’t very useful here, because the ceiling is in the clouds, and the floor is… well, the Rangers have a star-studded team coming off of winning the World Series. If they need to give him more time in Triple-A, they can certainly take him off the first team for a month or two.
Realistically, I’d be surprised if he hits fewer than 20 home runs in a full season, and his spot in the batting order will determine whether he has more or fewer opportunities to boost Semien and Seager. Maybe we shouldn’t count on steals since it’s an unwritten page, but I’m more than comfortable placing him as OF2 in any league starting tomorrow. He doesn’t lose much in OBP leagues, doesn’t have a clear flaw, and has a path to success in a great lineup and stadium.
I’m usually pessimistic on fantasy redraft newbies, but this guy is put together differently. It’s just the fear of the unknown that keeps me from pursuing him in the first four rounds of the draft or making silly trade offers. Langford is a fantasy star who must be signed immediately.—Bryan Grosnick
Thank you for reading
This is a free article. If you enjoyed it, consider subscribing to Baseball Prospectus. Subscriptions support ongoing public baseball research and analysis in an increasingly proprietary environment.
Subscribe now
2024-03-29 11:20:02
#llamada #Wyatt #Langford #Baseball #Prospectus
