Watch: Wyatt Langford hits grand slam for the Texas Rangers

Former Trenton (Florida) star now has five home runs in his first MLB spring training

SURPRISE, ARIZONA – Wyatt Langford, who starred on the high school level at Florida’s Trenton High, continued his incredible major league spring training debut with the Texas Rangers, Thursday, whacking a grand slam to lead the Rangers to a 7-4 victory over the Cincinnati Reds in Cactus League action at Surprise Stadium.

Serving as the Rangers' DH on Thursday, Langford came to the plate in the bottom of the fourth inning with two down, the bases loaded and his team leading 3-0. He the drove an offering from Cincinnati pitcher Buck Farmer to the opposite field and onto the berm beyond the right-center field fence.

Langford, the Rangers top pick in the 2023 MLB Draft (No. 4 overall), out of the University of Florida, now has five home runs in just 13 games this spring, tying him for most in the majors this spring. At just 22 years old, he is also the youngest Texas player to connect for five home runs in a single spring training since the team began tracking such statistics in 2016.

In his first crack at hitting major league pitching, Langford has slashed .361/.442/.806 with five walks and 14 RBIs.

Langford was a three-sport star at Trenton, playing football and basketball for the Tigers, in addition to baseball. As an eighth-grader he was a member of Trenton's FHSAA Class 1A state championship football team and became a 1A 2nd-team All-State selection at linebacker as a freshman, but it was in baseball where he really shined.

In 2019, as a junior, he won the Perfect Game National Home Run Derby. In 2017, he led Trenton to the FHSAA Class 1A state championship, while .391 with eight doubles and 21 RBIs. In 2018, his batting average increased to .438 with an on-base percentage of .584 and an .859 slugging percentage.

Trent High (Florida) grad Wyatt Langford is making quite a splash during his first Major League spring training with the Texas Rangers. He has hit five home runs, including a grand slam in a victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Thursday in Arizona.

Photo by Rick Scuteri/USA TODAY Sports

As the No. 144 overall prospect in high school baseball, in the Class of 2020, he signed to play his college baseball at the University of Florida. In three seasons with the Gators he posted a career batting average of .363 with 37 doubles, six triples and whopping 47 home runs, slugging .746. He also drove in 120 runs, scored 83 runs and drew 92 walks.

He became just the third Florida player to hit more than 20 home runs in consecutive season.

His list of honors at Florida are too numerous to list, but among the highlights were being named a 1st-team All-SEC and an unanimous 1st-team All-American in 2023.

After being drafted last June and receiving an $8 million signing bonus, Langford made is professional debut in the Rookie-level Arizona Complex League where he hit one home run and drove in four runs in just three games. He was quickly promoted to the High-A South Atlantic League and slashed .333/.453/.644/1.097 with five home runs, 15 RBI and seven stolen bases in 24 games with the Hickory Crawdads.

He earned two more promotions, late in the season, playing 12 games for the Frisco RoughRiders in the Double-A Texas League and six games with Round Rock Express of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League. His performance only accelerated at the higher level as he slashed .405/.519/.762/1.280 with four home runs, 10 RBI, and one stolen base at Frisco. At Round Rock, he batted .368 in 19 at bats, with three doubles, four runs scored and an RBI.

With one of the best offensive teams in baseball and coming off a World Series championship in 2023, many experts did not expect the Rangers to have room on their major league roster for Langford at the start of the 2024 season. With opening day less than two weeks away, many of those opinions have changed and several reports have projected that he will break camp with the team, based on his incredible numbers including a major league best OPS.

The Rangers must figure out how to divide his playing time between the outfield and designate hitter. One thing is for certain; if he makes the club, his bat will be given every opportunity to entrench itself in the middle of the Texas lineup.