The Rangers will have a new-look outfield after non-tendering Adolis García and swapping Marcus Semien for Brandon Nimmo. The pair of moves seemingly positions Wyatt Langford to move from left field to the opposite corner. While that might still be the case, manager Skip Schumaker left open the possibility of using Langford as a center fielder in 2026 (relayed by Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News).
Langford has some experience up the middle. He has started 50 games and logged 414 1/3 innings there in the big leagues. Both Defensive Runs Saved and Statcast’s Outs Above Average have liked his work. It’s a limited sample, but Langford has posted excellent marks in nearly 1700 innings in left field. He’s an excellent runner underway and has gotten solid grades from Statcast for his first-step reads. Langford’s arm isn’t spectacular but also isn’t poor enough to limit him to left field.
It’s rare for a college corner outfielder to move up the defensive spectrum in pro ball. Langford played left at the University of Florida as well, though that was in deference to two players whom scouts regarded as plus defenders up the middle. He hit his way to the big leagues so quickly that the Rangers didn’t have time to get him much minor league work in center. Texas used Leody Taveras as their center fielder in 2024 and gave Evan Carter the majority of the reps there this past season.
Carter is back and could certainly stake a claim to the center field role. He has battled injuries and been a little up-and-down since his sensational debut late in 2023. The Rangers have also used Carter in a strict platoon capacity, giving him a total of 68 career plate appearances versus lefty pitching. He has all of five MLB hits against southpaws. Schumaker suggested they could open up a few more left-on-left looks for Carter this season — even if they try to ease him in against less imposing arms.
“In this league, you earn your stripes, but you have to give them opportunity to earn their stripes,” Shumaker said (video via DLLS Sports). “There are elite, ace-type lefties who are challenging for lefties and righties, and then there are some lefties you feel really comfortable letting them hit against — whether it’s a starter or maybe a middle reliever.”
If Carter finds success against southpaws, the Rangers could have him flanked by Nimmo and Langford. The latter could slide over to center field against the toughest left-handed opposition, opening the door for Texas to mix in another righty bat off the bench. Fourth outfielder Michael Helman popped five home runs over 38 games in a late-season look, but he’s approaching his 30th birthday and had a .294 on-base percentage in Triple-A this year.
Adding right-handed bench bat would make some sense, though the Rangers appear to be up against a very tight line financially. They need to add at least a part-time catcher, a starting pitcher, and an entire bullpen. Upgrading on Jake Burger at first base would be ideal, but that might not be within the budget. Luis Arraez has been a speculated target based on his ties to Schumaker from the Marlins and the Rangers’ desire to make more contact. However, Will Sammon and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic wrote last week that Arraez might be out of their price range even on the heels of a down year in San Diego.
For similar reasons, Texas expects to replace Semien at second base internally. Utilityman Josh Smith should enter camp as the favorite. Shawn McFarland of The Dallas Morning News relayed word from Schumaker that Smith has a decent chance to win the job, though Cody Freeman and Ezequiel Duran are also in the mix. The lefty-hitting Smith has been a little better than average at the plate over the past two seasons. There has been some in-season volatility, as the LSU product has been much better in the first half in consecutive years.
In one bit of non-playing news, the Rangers are hiring Eric Dorton as a third hitting coach (as first reported by Jeff Wilson of DLLS Sports). He’ll work alongside Alex Cintrón as an assistant to lead hitting instructor Justin Viele. It’s an internal promotion. The 36-year-old Dorton has been in the organization since 2019 and was previously a minor league hitting coordinator. This is his first MLB coaching job.