Skip to main content
Inside The Rangers

How Wyatt Langford’s Latest Injury Impacts Each Rangers Outfielder

The Texas Rangers are going to have to do without outfielder Wyatt Langford after a hamstring injury.
Matt Postins|
Texas Rangers left fielder Wyatt Langford.
Texas Rangers left fielder Wyatt Langford. | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

In this story:

Texas Rangers

It appears the unwritten rule is that the Texas Rangers aren’t allowed to have Wyatt Langford and Corey Seager in the lineup at the same time.

Three days after Seager returned from two weeks away with mild concussion symptoms, Langford went on the 10-day injured list with a hamstring strain. Rangers manager Skip Schumaker also threw cold water on any hope that it would only be a 10-day stay. He told beat writers on the trip, including MLB.com’s Kennedi Landry, that Langford won’t return until after the All-Star Break.

That means Langford will miss 14 games, including the two he missed in Toronto. It means the earliest he will return is on July 17 at Atlanta. Until then, the Rangers will have to do without their hottest right-handed hitter.

Here is how his absence will impact each Rangers outfielder on the roster as of Sunday.

Brandon Nimmo

Texas really can’t afford to lose Nimmo for any length of time and he’s been highly durable, aside from two small stretches dealing with a tight hamstring. Rangers fans will be monitoring whether Nimmo will play on Monday after he slammed into the right field wall in Toronto catching the final out of the game. He walked off under his own power.

He is slashing .262/.333/.420 with eight home runs and 29 RBI. After starting the season in the leadoff spot, he’s settled into the clean-up spot.

Evan Carter

Now that Carter is back from the injured list, he’s going to play every day in center field against right-handed pitching, as he did on Sunday. He went 0-for-2 with a strikeout in his return. His troubles against left-handed pitching aside, he’s the best overall defender in the outfield and Texas has, for the moment, prioritized his glove over the liability of his bat against lefties.

He’s slashed .174/.289/.318 with six home runs and 21 RBI. The Guardians will start two left-handers in the next three games. We’ll see what the Rangers do with Carter on Monday and Wednesday.

Alejandro Osuna

With Langford down, Osuna is going to get plenty of time in left field, especially against left-handed pitching, where he’s been excellent all season. When Carter can’t play due to the matchup, Osuna is the likely center fielder, too. If he isn’t playing every day in some way — as a starter of off the bench — then Texas is doing something wrong.

Osuna is slashing .252/.353/.281 with no home runs and 14 RBI. The Rangers can live without the slug so long as he continues hit against lefties like this — .353/.421/.353. Plus, he’s delivered clutch hit after clutch hit the past couple of weeks.

Jarred Kelenic

The former first-round pick gets to hold onto a job for a little bit longer. Selected on June 19 after signing a minor league deal on June 2, he might have been the odd man out when Carter returned — if Langford was healthy. Now that he’s on the IL, the left-handed hitting outfielder gets a reprieve. Under normal circumstances, he’s the fourth outfielder who will play in left field when Osuna is in center and Carter is on the bench.

Kelenic is slashing .125/.300/.125 in seven games, but the bat doesn’t matter nearly as much right now as his ability to play multiple positions capably and make heads up plays like he did in the ninth inning of Sunday's game.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Loading recommendations... Please wait while we load personalized content recommendations

Published
Matthew Postins
MATT POSTINS

Matthew Postins is an award-winning sports journalist who covers Major League Baseball for OnSI. He also covers the Big 12 Conference for Heartland College Sports.

Share on XFollow postinspostcard
Home/News