LOS ANGELES -- Wyatt Langford and the Rangers breathed a sigh of relief Saturday, as the star left fielder appeared to have avoided a long-term injury after exiting Friday’s series opener against the Dodgers with right quad tightness.
Langford underwent an MRI Saturday morning that found only a “very mild strain,” the team said, meaning he would not need to go on the injured list. Langford was not in the lineup for the middle game in L.A. but is considered day to day and could be available off the bench.
“It’s always a little nerve-wracking, just because sometimes with something like this they want to put you on the IL if it’s going to be five or six days, because it’s hard to be down a guy,” Langford said pregame. “So it’s definitely good news not to be going on the IL.”
Langford injured his leg while hitting his first home run of the season on Friday, saying he had reached down to get a Tyler Glasnow curveball that he sent into the Dodgers’ bullpen. He felt the tightness while rounding the bases and left the game shortly after.
“When you have one of your best players dodge an IL, hopefully, that’s a big deal,” manager Skip Schumaker said. “We’ve said it [since the] beginning of Spring Training, keeping these guys healthy is going to be the most important thing of our season. We’ve caught a little bit of the injury bug early on with Game 2 with [Jacob] deGrom, and luckily we avoided that.
“We thought there’s a possibility of the IL today, luckily we avoided that. These things are going to come up every now and then. If we can avoid the long-term ILs, that’s really what you’re trying to avoid. I don't want to say it’s a good day, [Langford’s] still off a day or two, whatever it is, but I’ll take that over what it could have been.”
Langford said he could tell the injury wasn’t serious by the end of Friday night, and that he felt even better on Saturday. He said he’d “definitely” be back in the lineup for the Rangers’ upcoming series against the A’s in West Sacramento.
The 24-year-old has missed time in each of his first two MLB seasons, including three oblique-related IL stints last season.
Schumaker said the Rangers’ depth is extra important when players like Langford need a day off.
Ezequiel Duran, who replaced Langford in left field on Friday and started there on Saturday, ended up hitting the game-tying single off Dodgers closer Edwin Díaz in a three-run ninth inning before Max Muncy’s walk-off home run.
“I really value our bench, I’ve said that before,” Schumaker said. “A strong bench is crucial for the long haul, for guys like Wyatt who need days off, for whoever needs days off, that they can fill in and then they can also provide late-game heroics like they did last night.”