Rangers promoted Wyatt Langford to Double-A Frisco because he ‘deserved another challenge’

ARLINGTON — The Rangers decided to push 2023 first-round pick Wyatt Langford to Double-A Frisco after barely six weeks in professional baseball because the outfielder “deserved another challenge,” assistant general manager Ross Fenstermaker said Monday.

Langford, 21, made his Double-A debut for Frisco on Monday, going 0 for 4 with a strikeout in a 7-3 loss to Northwest Arkansas. In 24 games at advanced Class A Hickory, Langford slashed .333/.453/.644/1.097 in 106 plate appearances. He also had a 1-to-1 walk-to-strikeout rate. Langford, the fourth pick in the draft from the University of Florida, was named the South Atlantic League Player of the Week for the just-concluded week after going 7 for 17 (.412) with a pair of homers.

“He comes from an advanced league [the SEC] and was an advanced hitter to begin with,” Rangers assistant general manager Ross Fenstermaker said Monday. “He’s relentless in his preparation. We felt confident he was ready. He’s checked all the boxes. He deserved another challenge.”

The Rangers had considered starting Langford at Double-A immediately, but wanted to let him get comfortable around their system and around their people. He spent about a week at the Arizona Complex League after an onboarding experience before going to Hickory. His league and park-adjusted runs created (wRC+) of 192 ranks as the sixth highest by any player with at least 100 plate appearances in an advanced Class A league this year. Each of the other five players has moved to Double-A.

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