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Young Outfield Struggles Amongst Rangers 2026 Season Mishaps
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- Young Outfield Struggles Amongst Rangers 2026 Season Mishaps
(IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect)
It wasn't that long ago that Wyatt Langford and Evan Carter were considered two of the best prospects in all of baseball.
However, in 2026, the Texas Rangers ' young outfield duo in large part failed to take steps forward.
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Langford dealt with injuries throughout the season, appearing in just 110 games. In those contests, the former Florida Gator hit just .238 with 17 home runs and 44 RBI.
As for Carter, he played in 141 games, by far the most of his big-league career, but never really found a rhythm at the plate, hitting just .194 with nine home runs and 40 RBI while struggling mightily against left-handed pitching.
When asked about his young outfield duo, Rangers President of Baseball Operations Chris Young made clear he "wouldn't specifically say they regressed."
"I think there's a level of performance and a step we expected all of those guys to take that maybe we didn't quite see and realize," Young said, talking about Langford and Carter as well as Jack Leiter and Kumar Rocker.
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"That said, there is development that takes place at the big-league level that is not perfectly linear, but our expectation and hope moving forward is that these guys do take that step," Young said.
"We drafted each of those players, we believe in each of those players, and they are important pieces to our team moving forward," he continued.
"So we do need them to really take the lessons from this year and some of the challenges that each of those guys had, respectively, and to improve and use this offseason as a way to really go home and reflect on the season and commit to getting better in terms of their specific skill set, health, and strength and conditioning," Young said.
Young noted that opportunities in the MLB are ones that will always be on the table and emphasized the importance of next season.
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"The opportunity to be a Major League player does not last forever," Young said. "Next year will be a big year for all of these players; we're going to need each one of them. So we need to find a way to help them be the best they can be."
There's no doubt that a healthy and best version of both Langford and Carter would have done wonders for this Rangers team that missed the playoffs by just one game.
However, what's in the past is in the past, and if one thing is clear, it's that 2027 will be a big year for this outfield duo.
