SURPRISE, Ariz. -- Rangers outfielder Wyatt Langford is wasting no time getting back to it after returning from a left oblique injury he sustained on Feb. 21.
Langford has been slowly ramping up baseball activities since then, and started swinging a bat earlier this week. He had a 97.6 mph single off Royals pitcher Daniel Lynch in his Cactus League debut on Saturday and had another 103.1 mph single against Corbin Burnes in Sunday’s 14-1 loss to the Diamondbacks at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick.
“I felt great, baseball-wise, but mostly physically,” Langford said. “I felt really good. It's good to get out there and get my feet underneath me. It's hard to say how long it’ll take to get my timing. Obviously, I felt pretty good out there today, but then tomorrow, you could feel like crap. That’s just baseball. But right now, I feel pretty good. I’m pretty excited.”
Langford is projected to be the Opening Day left fielder for the Rangers after coming off an electric rookie year. In 2024, he played in 105 games in left, 15 in center and 25 at designated hitter while slashing .253/.325/.415 with 16 home runs. He was named the AL Player of the Month in September, when he slashed .300/.386/.610.
Eovaldi’s start
Sunday was not a banner day for the Rangers’ veteran right-hander, as Nathan Eovaldi allowed four runs on five hits and two walks in four innings against the D-backs.
He’s now allowed seven runs in nine innings this spring, good for a 7.00 ERA.
“I’m frustrated, sure,” Eovaldi said postgame. “I’m pleased with getting up to 75 pitches, but ideally, I would’ve liked to [throw] five innings. I was a little off mechanically. Overall, I had to work today. It is what it is. I feel like a lot of it was poor execution on my end. That, I can control. There were some little things that I missed where I could’ve been better. I’m definitely frustrated, but again, it’s Spring Training. I feel good, my body feels good. I just gotta start syncing everything up.”
Roster cuts
The Rangers also made their second round of roster cuts on Sunday, optioning right-hander Cole Winn and lefties Jacob Latz and Walter Pennington to Triple-A Round Rock. Right-hander Winston Santos -- the Rangers’ No. 5 prospect who was in big league camp -- was optioned to Double-A Frisco.
Infielder Blaine Crim, outfielder Cody Thomas, right-hander Nolan Hoffman and left-handers Michael Plassmeyer and Robby Ahlstrom were all reassigned to Minor League camp.
The biggest shocks were the pair of lefties in Latz and Pennington, who basically got crunched in a numbers game with manager Bruce Bochy not wanting to have too many left-handers in the bullpen. Texas signed Hoby Milner to a big league deal this offseason, while also trading for Robert Garcia. Those two will likely open the season as left-handed relief options.
“I think we're getting it narrowed down, not completely yet,” Bochy said of the bullpen roles. “You'll see stuff start to tick up on some of these guys the next couple weeks. I think their command is going to get sharper, especially the veterans. I think it's only going to get better with them, but you're always looking for strike throwers.”