Langford's rookie season worthy of recognition

This story was excerpted from Kennedi Landry's Rangers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

ARLINGTON -- At the end of May, Wyatt Langford was slashing .222/.288/.286 with just one home run. He had just spent three weeks on the injured list with a right hamstring strain and -- nationally, at least -- appeared to have fallen out of the American League Rookie of the Year race.

But then he figured it out.

From June 1 through the end of the season -- a span of 100 games -- Langford slashed .263/.337/.458 with 15 home runs. He struck out less, walked more and seemingly put everything together, doing everything the Rangers expected of the player they selected at No. 4 overall in the 2023 MLB Draft.

Surely enough for an AL Rookie of the Year comeback, right? Not so much. Langford was not named a finalist for the award when MLB announced them on Monday night.

Instead, the finalists are Orioles outfielder Colton Cowser, Yankees right-hander Luis Gil and Yankees catcher Austin Wells. Votes from BBWAA members are submitted before the postseason begins.

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Cowser appears to be the frontrunner for the award after slashing .242/.321/.447 (120 wRC+) in 153 games. He accumulated 3.1 bWAR and 4.0 fWAR over that time.

Wells slashed .229/.322/.395 (105 wRC+) in 115 games, with 2.5 bWAR and 3.4 fWAR, though he has been praised for his defense behind the plate on top of his offensive production.

If Cowser is the perceived favorite, Langford has a case to be a finalist alongside him, regardless of the other contenders. The 22-year-old finished the year with a similar slash line at .253/.325/.415 with a 110 wRC+ in 134 games. He collected 3.9 bWAR and 2.9 fWAR.

Additionally, Langford became just the second player, and the only rookie, in MLB history to produce a walk-off grand slam (Sept. 3 vs. the Yankees), a cycle (June 30 at Baltimore) and an inside-the-park home run (April 28 vs. the Reds) in the same season, joining Brooklyn’s Jackie Robinson in 1948.

Alas, Langford will not win Rookie of the Year, despite dramatic improvement across the course of the season. But Rookie of the Year or not, Langford and the Rangers are more than pleased with his progress in his first big league season.

“It's so difficult to hit Major League pitching now more than ever,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “And what he did this year amazes me in the progress that he made. He's always going to have that ability to use the whole field well. He drives the ball on both sides, and his work ethic is what will continue to make him better. This guy wants to be really good. He wants to be great. He wants to win.”

Looking back at Langford’s full season, president of baseball operations Chris Young said his month of September is probably what stood out the most. Rookies often struggle to adjust to the mental and physical grind of a full 162-game season. And even though Langford had that brief stint on the injured list, he still found a way to be at his best at the very end.

In September, he was named the AL Player and Rookie of the Month after slashing .300/.386/.610 with eight home runs to cap off his first year in the Majors.

“What's impressed me the most with Wyatt is just his aptitude, his hunger, his work, and his unwavering belief and commitments to being great,” Young said. “We saw that over the course of the season. Wyatt didn't have a full Minor League season to prepare him for a full Major League season. This is a guy who basically went through half of a Minor League [season] and he comes into his first full Spring Training, and he's at his best at the very end of the year.

“I think that speaks to the person and the ability that he has. He just continued to improve and adjust and learn and grow. The best is yet to come. I'm so excited about his future. He's a special one.”