SURPRISE, Ariz. – Rangers top prospect Sebastian Walcott (No. 7 overall) had a successful internal brace surgery on his right elbow performed by the club’s team physician, Dr. Keith Meister, in Arlington last week, general manager Ross Fenstermaker announced on Tuesday.
It’s good news for the 19-year-old infielder that he avoided Tommy John surgery, shortening the recovery time. It’s going to be a timeline of about 5-6 months before he starts hitting, and the fielding will follow.
“If all things go according to plan, we're looking at probably an August return for him back to game action,” Fenstermaker said. “It won't be a full-go at that point, but hitting in games. It was successful overall, we're pretty excited about that. … That was what we were hoping for, but you never quite know until you go in there and do the surgery. So everything went well. Feedback from Dr. Meister was very positive, and Sebastian is in good spirits.”
Position players have a shorter rehab timeline for elbow surgery than pitchers with either the internal brace or Tommy John surgery. If Walcott returns in August, it’s conceivable that he could appear in regular-season games at a Minor League affiliate before heading to the Arizona Fall League or a Winter League in the offseason.
Walcott pointed to Trevor Story -- who returned in just six months -- and Rangers shortstop Corey Seager as position players who have undergone the surgery.
“Obviously, it's a huge blow mentally, but you can't try and look forward and try and get to a goal faster,” Seager said of his advice to Walcott. “You just want to show up, know what you're supposed to do that day, accomplish that and move on.”
Walcott is the crown jewel of the farm system. He has been promoted aggressively in each of the past few years, spending all of 2025 with Double-A Frisco, where he slashed .255/.355/.386 with 13 homers and 32 steals as one of the youngest players at the level.
Walcott, for all his youth, is taking the injury in stride with the maturity of a veteran.
“I’m just thankful that I'm still here,” Walcott said. “A lot of people are going through a lot worse things, and that just kind of puts in perspective that I could be in a worse situation. I’m thankful that I'm going to be able to come back from this injury and be able to still play the game of baseball. So that's the most important thing, just being grateful for all this.”