Texas Rangers Top Prospect Impressing Team Leadership in Spring Training

This prospect isn’t Major League ready yet, but the Texas Rangers’ top brass are impressed with how quickly he’s developed.

May 29, 2023; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Texas Rangers cap in glove sits in dugout during the eighth inning against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images | Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images

The Texas Rangers believed Sebastian Walcott had to tools to be a Major League player one day. They just didn’t realize that time might be coming as soon as 2026.

Walcott, the crown jewel of the Rangers’ 2023 international signing class, is in his first Major League camp this spring at Surprise, Ariz. To this point, he hasn’t been sent back to minor league camp. There is no intent for Walcott to make the team. But that doesn’t mean the franchise isn’t blown away by his progress.

Rangers president of baseball operations Chris Young talked with MLB.com recently on a wide range of topics, including Walcott’s progress. Young is having trouble comprehending how fast he’s ascended through the system.

"I see him, it's just hard to believe that he just 18 years old,” Young said. “I was a high school senior [at that age].”

The Rangers paid Walcott $3.2 million to sign with them in January of 2023. The Bahamas native was just 16 at the time. While he was highly regarded by scouts, he started 2023 where most international signees start — the Dominican Summer League. He played nine games. Even with a .161 batting average, the Rangers opted to bring him stateside and drop him in the Arizona Complex League.

He improved and batted .273. He got in four more games with High-A Hickory and finished 2023 with a slash line of .246/.335/.471/.806 with seven home runs and 24 RBI in 48 games.

Last season he played most of the year at Hickory, with a late promotion to Double-A Frisco. He slashed .265/.344/.452/.796 with 11 home runs and 56 RBI. He also stole 27 bases.

He represented the Rangers in the MLB Futures Game at Globe Life Field and participate in the skills challenge post-game. He was selected to the South Atlantic League Postseason All-Star team and emerged as the organization’s top prospect this offseason.

It was a leap even the Rangers didn’t quite expect.

“The growth he's made in a year, the strides he's taken, it's so impressive to see. It's not normal,” Young said.

The Rangers aren’t ready to tear up the roster to find Walcott a spot in the Majors. Their philosophy has always been to let the player’s progress dictate when he’s ready. But, Walcott’s progress is putting him in position for a call-up sometime in 2026. At the rate he’s going, Texas may not have a choice.

“The sky's the limit for him,” Young said. “[He's] just great a player who continues to get better, because he's got the physical skill set and he's also the mental approach as well, which is going to help him realize his full potential.”