Wyatt Michael Langford (born November 15, 2001) is an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

for the Texas Rangers of

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB). Langford played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

for the

Florida Gators The Florida Gators are the College sports in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Florida, located in Gainesville, Florida, Gainesville. The University of Florida, its athletic program, its alumni an ...

. He was selected fourth overall by the Rangers in the 2023 MLB draft, and made his MLB debut in 2024.

Amateur career

Langford attended Trenton High School in

Trenton, Florida Trenton is a city in and the county seat of Gilchrist County, Florida, Gilchrist County, Florida, United States. The population was 2,015 as of the 2020 census, up from 1,999 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Gainesville, Florida Gainesville m ...

. He played baseball and football at Trenton. In 2019, he won the 2019 Perfect Game National Home Run Derby. Langford committed to the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

to play

. As a freshman at Florida in 2021, Langford played in four games and had one hit over four at-bats. That summer he played for the

Charlottesville Tom Sox The Charlottesville Tom Sox are a collegiate summer baseball team in Charlottesville, Virginia. They play in the southern division of the Valley Baseball League. The Tom Sox are the 2017, 2019 and 2022 Valley Baseball League Champions. They fini ...

in the

Valley Baseball League The Valley Baseball League is an National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA and Major League Baseball, MLB-sanctioned collegiate summer baseball, collegiate summer baseball league in the Shenandoah Valley region of Virginia. The league was s ...

, posting a .346/.459/.527/.987

slash line This is an alphabetical list of selected unofficial and specialized terms, phrases, and other jargon used in baseball, along with their definitions, including illustrative examples for many entries. 0–9 0 :"Oh and ..." See count. 1 ...

with 3

home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run ...

and 20

runs batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if th ...

(RBI). In 2022, he started all 66 games and hit 26 home runs, which tied Matt LaPorta for most home runs in a season by a Gators player. He finished the season, slashing .356/.447/.719 with 63 RBI. After the season, he played for the United States collegiate national team during the summer. He also played in nine games for the Peninsula Pilots of the

Coastal Plain League The Coastal Plain League (CPL) is a wood-bat collegiate summer baseball league, featuring college players recruited from throughout the nation. The league takes its name from the Class D level Coastal Plain League which operated in the area f ...

. Langford entered the 2023 season as one of the top prospects for the 2023 Major League Baseball draft and the potential first overall pick. Langford slashed .373/.498/.784/1.282 with 21 home runs, 57 RBI, and 9 stolen bases for the Gators in 2023. Langford was a 2023

Golden Spikes Award The Golden Spikes Award is bestowed annually to the best amateur baseball player in the United States. The award, created by USA Baseball and sponsored by the Major League Baseball Players Association, was first presented in 1978. It is given to ...

Semifinalist. He was a 2023 unanimous First Team All-American. Langford helped lead Florida to the 2023 Men's College World Series finals and was named to the 2023 College World Series All-Tournament Team.

Professional career

The Texas Rangers chose Langford in the first round, with the fourth overall selection, in the 2023 MLB draft. On July 18, Langford signed with Texas for a $8 million

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

. Langford made his professional debut with the ACL Rangers of the

Rookie-level Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National L ...

Arizona Complex League The Arizona Complex League (ACL) is a rookie-level Minor League Baseball league that operates in and around Phoenix, Arizona, since 1988. Prior to 2021, it was known as the Arizona League (AZL). Along with the Florida Complex League (FCL), it fo ...

, hitting .385 with 1 home run and 4 RBI over 3 games. He was promoted to the Hickory Crawdads of the

High-A High-A, officially Class High-A, formerly known as Class A-Advanced, and sometimes abbreviated "A+" in writing, is the third-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States and Canada, below Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A and D ...

South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its h ...

on August 2. Over 24 games for Hickory, he hit .333/.453/.644/1.097 with 5 home runs, 15 RBI, and 7 stolen bases. Langford was then promoted to the

Frisco RoughRiders The Frisco RoughRiders (often shortened to 'Riders) are a Minor League Baseball team of the Texas League and the Double-A (baseball), Double-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers. Based in Frisco, Texas, the team is named aft ...

of the Double-A

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

for the final 12 games of their season, hitting .405/.519/.762/1.280 with 4 home runs, 10 RBI, and 1 stolen base. Langford's rapid ascent through the minor leagues contained one final stop in 2023, with a promotion on September 19 to the

Round Rock Express The Round Rock Express are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers. They are located in Round Rock, Texas, and play their home ...

of the Triple-A

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

for the final 6 games of their season. Langford made the Rangers Opening Day roster in 2024. On April 28, he hit his first home run, an

inside-the-park home run In baseball, an inside-the-park home run is a rare play in which a Batter (baseball), batter rounds all four bases for a home run without the baseball leaving the baseball field, field of play. It is also known as an "inside-the-parker", "in-the-p ...

off Andrew Abbott of the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...

. Playing three games at Round Rock in May, he batted .200/.273/.200. On June 22, against the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team ...

, Langford hit his first career grand slam off reliever Ángel Zerpa in the eighth inning. On June 30, he

hit for the cycle Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust or HIT, a fictional organization ...

against the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the America ...

, the 11th player to accomplish the feat in franchise history. On September 3, Langford hit a walk-off grand slam against the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

, the 8th one in franchise history. Additionally, he is the first player since

Jackie Robinson Jack Roosevelt Robinson (January 31, 1919 – October 24, 1972) was an American professional baseball player who became the first Black American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the modern era. Robinson broke the Baseball color line, ...

, and the first rookie ever, to hit an inside-the-park homer, a walk-off grand slam, and hit for the cycle in the same season.

Awards

In July 2024, he was named American League Rookie of the Month for June 2024. In October 2024, he was named American League Player of the Month and Rookie of the Month for September 2024.

Notes

References

External links

Florida Gators bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Langford, Wyatt 2001 births Living people Arizona Complex League Rangers players Baseball players from Gainesville, Florida Florida Gators baseball players Frisco RoughRiders players Hickory Crawdads players Major League Baseball outfielders Peninsula Pilots players Round Rock Express players Texas Rangers players United States national baseball team players People from Gilchrist County, Florida 21st-century American sportsmen