Rangers make no-brainer decision regarding top prospect, unlike Orioles
In light of the Orioles not adding Jackson Holliday to their Opening Day roster, the Rangers have gone the opposite direction. Top prospect Wyatt Langford has cracked the Opening Day roster for the defending World champions.
By Curt Bishop
On Friday, the Texas Rangers made an important decision.
Unlike the Baltimore Orioles, who didn't grant Jackson Holliday a spot on their Opening Day roster despite a red-hot spring, the Rangers had seen enough of top prospect Wyatt Langford to put him on their Opening Day roster.
The 22-year-old slashed .388/.446/.796 this spring and led all players with 19 RBI. Needless to say, Langford has been swinging a hot bat.
Langford has also only struck out 14 times, scored 13 runs, picked up 19 hits, and hit six home runs.
Baseball Reference posted this exciting news on Twitter, showing just how hot Langford has been this spring.
Top prospect Wyatt Langford has made the #Rangers Opening Day roster!
— Baseball Reference (@baseball_ref) March 22, 2024
He slashed .388/.446/.796 this spring, and led all players with 19 RBIs 🔥 pic.twitter.com/nYCZIvTjb1
Wyatt Langford makes Rangers Opening Day roster
It's an exciting time to be a fan of the Rangers.
Not only is the team ready to defend its 2023 World Series title, but they have a young star in the making with Langford.
This is certainly an exciting time for Langford as well. He's had a strong spring, which has been rewarded with an opportunity to compete with the big-league club and show the baseball world what he's made of.
The addition of Langford to the roster should help give the defending World Series champions a boost on the offensive side.
Langford is currently ranked the No. 6 prospect in all of baseball by MLB Pipeline.
Calling him up to the majors is the right decision and makes sense for the Rangers, and in doing so, they did what the Orioles failed to do with Jackson Holliday, who is also one of MLB Pipeline's top ranked prospects.
Fortunately, the defending champions don't appear to be terribly concerned with manipulating Langford's service time, which should give him the opportunity to compete for Rookie of the Year honors in the American League.
Holliday will of course have that chance if he ever gets the call, but Langford might have a head start on him, depending on how well he performs in the month of April.
Langford was selected by the Rangers with the fourth pick in last year's draft. CBS had ranked the University of Florida product the No. 2 prospect in last year's draft class.
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