The Texas Rangers entered Friday’s series against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the midst of a three-game winning streak, looking to gain some momentum in the early stages of the MLB season. Even though the Rangers are hot, one of their major young pieces, Wyatt Langford, is off to a slow start.
The 24-year-old left fielder has collected just eight hits in his first 51 plate appearances, striking out 13 times and walking just once. Still, for a player of Langford’s caliber, he is fully capable of turning it around.
Texas selected Langford fourth overall in the 2023 MLB Draft, and he was the team’s top prospect before making his debut in 2024, a season that saw him finish seventh in American League Rookie of the Year voting.
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Langford looked like he had turned it around during Friday’s series opener against Los Angeles. In the top of the fifth inning, Langford connected on a breaking ball from Dodgers starter Tyler Glasnow and launched it for his first home run of the season.
However, when the bottom of the sixth inning came around, Langford had left the game. In his place, Ezequiel Duran entered in left field and took his spot in the batting order.
Moments later, the team provided an official update to reporters on the reason for his early exit. “Wyatt Langford has exited the game with right quad tightness,” reported Shawn McFarland of Dallas Morning News.
Wyatt Langford has exited the game with right quad tightness.
— Shawn McFarland (@McFarland_Shawn) April 11, 2026
This is unfortunate for Langford, who was finally starting to find his groove, and it is unclear if he suffered the right quad injury during the swing in which he hit his home run.
Langford’s next chance to return will be Saturday in the second game of the three-game set against Los Angeles. The only way he returns, though, is if his removal was precautionary, and the severity of the injury remains unclear.
For a Rangers team trying to build early momentum, they can only hope this proves to be a minor setback rather than the start of another challenge for one of their cornerstone young players.
Related: Rangers Get Jacob deGrom Injury Update After Leaving Mariners Game Early