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First start in LF for Texas Rangers’ Wyatt Langford shows off different aspect of his game

It appears the 22-year-old rookie can play a little defense, too.

ARLINGTON — Today’s installment of The Feats of Wyatt Langford brought three new looks that hadn’t yet been shown during his brief tenure as a major league baseball player.

His defense, his power and his speed.

First, the defense. Langford — in his first start as the Rangers’ left fielder — chased down a 98.5 mph Mike Tauchman liner and made a sliding grab to his right for his first career major league put out, one of three he made in the Rangers’ 9-5 loss to the Chicago Cubs on Sunday at Globe Life Field.

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“I was just trying to catch a ball really, I guess,” Langford said. “I got a good jump on it and I made a good play.”

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Second, the power and speed. With right fielder Evan Carter (walk) on third base and leadoff hitter Marcus Semien (double) on second, Langford crushed a Jordan Wicks changeup 103.4 mph off the bat to left-center field and raced around the basepaths for a two-run triple. He reached 29.7 feet-per-second on his jaunt (30 feet per second, for comparison sake, is considered “elite”) and according to Baseball Savant, his hit would have been a home run in 14 ballparks.

“I swung at two changeups in the dirt the at bat before,” said Langford, who hit second in the Rangers’ lineup for the first time this season. “So I was kind of looking for it, and he just left it up in the zone.”

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Langford also walked in the first inning and struck out twice, once swinging in the second and once looking in the eighth.

“He made a great play, didn’t he?” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said. “He’s been playing a good outfield. He smoked that triple there, showed the speed on that. He’s just doing a real nice job.”

The 22-year-old has .333/.400/500 in his first three career games with the Rangers. He recorded an infield single and was intentionally walked in Thursday’s season opener, and had two singles on Saturday. He’s the No. 1 prospect in the Rangers’ organization per The Dallas Morning News’ rankings and the No. 6 prospect in baseball according to MLB Pipeline.

“It’s a little different getting to play the field today,” Langford said. “But like I said, I felt really good. I feel good at the plate right now.”

Twitter: @McFarlandShawn

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