Texas Rangers left fielder Wyatt Langford, playing in his third year in Major League Baseball, has had the injury bug to begin the 2026 season. Langford suffered a right forearm strain against the Pittsburgh Pirates on April 21, which forced him out of the game.
The next day, the Rangers placed the 24-year-old on the 10-day injured list with a Grade 1 flexor strain. The initial thought from the Rangers' organization and coaching staff was that Langford would be able to return after just the 10 days, making him available to play this weekend.
However, on Thursday, during a rehab game at the Rangers' complex in Arizona, Langford suffered a setback.
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Langford re-aggravated his right forearm injury during Thursday's game on a swing-and-miss, which resulted in him being exiting the game.
On Saturday before a game against the Detroit Tigers, Rangers manager Skip Schumaker announced that due to the rehab complication, Langford will be sidelined for another week, according to The Dallas Morning News reporter Shawn McFarland.
"Langford is here in Detroit with the team. He re-aggravated his forearm in his first at-bat of Thursday’s rehab game, said it felt like it did when he first strained it, and now he’ll be down a week to let it rest," McFarland said.
Langford has played 20 games in the majors this season, putting up a slash line of .238/.274/.363 with an OPS of .636, one home run and four RBIs. He's also stolen three bases.
The five-tool player in Langford is a big miss for a Rangers team that currently sits in second place in the American League West with a 16-16 record.
With Langford being reevaluated in a week, it is likely that he will not return to the big-league club until at least next Sunday, when the Rangers finish their home series against the Chicago Cubs. Texas may also wait until it begins a three-game set against the Arizona Diamondbacks the next day on May 11.
