Texas Rangers Have New Top Prospect in Langford After MLB Draft

Florida outfielder and Rangers first-round pick Wyatt Langford made a big splash in the latest Top 100 prospect rankings by Baseball America.

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Outfielder Wyatt Langford hasn’t played a game for the Texas Rangers and he’s already considered the organization's top prospect, according to Baseball America.

The site re-ranked its Top 100 overall prospects after the MLB Draft. Langford slid into the No. 11 spot — one spot ahead of outfielder Evan Carter.

Carter has been ranked as the Rangers’ No. 1 prospect by Baseball America for nearly a year. But Langford unseated him.

The Rangers selected Langford on Sunday with their first-round pick.

Langford played three seasons for Florida, slashing .363/.471/.746/1.217 (180-for-496) with 47 home runs and 120 RBI in 134 career games for the Gators. In 2022 he tied Matt LaPorta’s single-season high with 26 home runs.

With the 4th pick of the 2023 MLB Draft, the Texas Rangers select...

Wyatt Langford ⚾️
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— Bally Sports Southwest (@BallySportsSW) July 14, 2023

He earned First-Team All-SEC and Second-Team All-American (Collegiate Baseball) honors while leading the Gators to the College World Series championship against LSU in June.

Against LSU, he went 7-for-13 (.538) with two home runs, three doubles, and eight RBI. That included a collegiate-best five-hit, six-RBI performance in the second game, during which he hit a 449-foot home run — the second-longest tracked home run in the history of Charles Schwab Field in Omaha.

Carter is with Double-A Frisco and has put together a great season for the RoughRiders, only briefly interrupted by an injury. Carter is batting .301 for the season, and since returning from that injury, he has hits in 13 of 15 games while batting .367 with three home runs, three doubles, 13 RBI, and six walks.

The Rangers have three other prospects in the Top 100, and one is relatively new to the rankings. Infielder Luisangel Acuña, who is at Frisco with Carter, is ranked No. 90. Just behind him is another infielder, Sebastian Walcott, at No. 93. Walcott was an international signing with the Rangers in January and is with their Arizona Complex League team.

Pitcher Owen White, who made his Major League debut last month and is currently with Triple-A Round Rock, is No. 100.

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You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard

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