Rangers Shutting Down Wyatt Langford After Injury Setback in Arizona

DETROIT — Up until Texas Rangers outfielder Wyatt Langford took a swing in a real game, he said everything was fine.

But, after two swings Thursday night in Arizona, Langford exited the game after he felt the same tightness in his right forearm that landed him on the injured list last month.

“I would say I was swinging 100% in the cage, so it’s hard to replicate,” Langford said Saturday at Comerica Park after flying from Arizona to rejoin the team. “I was swinging good up until the game. I took 40 to 50 swings before the game, really hard, full swings, and then just went out there and kind of reaggravated it.”

Wyatt Langford’s Timeline

Texas Rangers manager Skip Schumaker checks his line up card. — Texas Rangers manager Skip Schumaker. | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

Langford will be shut down for a week. He won’t throw or swing a bat. He said he will continue to run to keep his conditioning up. After a week, per Rangers manager Skip Schumaker, the hope is that Langford will continue a hitting program.

The third-year outfielder was eligible to be activated on Saturday.

“He swung and missed, felt it in the same spot and we’re going to figure out what the next step is," Schumaker said. “It just needs to calm down.”

Langford said he swung and missed once and fouled off a pitch during the at-bat. He also played the top of the inning in the field before he went to the plate.

The Rangers put Langford on the 10-day injured list on April 22 with a right forearm strain. Before the setback, the expectation was that he would play one or two rehab games in Arizona and join Texas in Detroit this weekend to be activated.

The third-year outfielder rebounded from a slow start to .238/.274/.363 with one home run and four RBI. He also has three doubles and two triples. He missed three games during a west coast road trip with a strained quad but didn’t go on the injured list. His move to the IL was unfortunate timing as his bat was starting to heat up.

The Rangers gave outfielder Brandon Nimmo the day off after his right hamstring tightened up on him for the second time in two games on Friday night. For Saturday’s game, Ezequiel Duran was in right field and Evan Carter assumed the leadoff spot.

Texas also has Sam Haggerty, Andrew McCutchen and Alejandro Osuna to use in the outfield. Osuna was the outfielder called up when Langford went on the IL and was the likely option back to Round Rock if he were activated. This keeps Osuna with the Major League club a little longer.

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