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It took three months, but there has been finally been a cycle this season. Sunday night Texas Rangers rookie Wyatt Langford hit for the first cycle of the 2024 MLB season against the Baltimore Orioles (TEX 11, BAL 2). It is the 11th cycle in franchise history and the first by a Rangers player since Carlos Gómez in 2017.
Langford flew out in his first at-bat against O’s lefty Cole Irvin. He then tripled against Irvin in the fourth, doubled off lefty Nick Vespi in the fifth, singled against righty Dillon Tate in the sixth, and homered off lefty Matt Krook in the eighth. In all, he tallied four hits against four different pitchers, and he hustled to get the extra base on the double and triple. Here are all four hits:
Texas selected Langford with the No. 4 pick in the 2023 draft and he entered this season as the No. 4 prospect in baseball. “Scouts have felt confident giving him plus offensive projections even before he took a pro at-bat,” our R.J. Anderson wrote.
Langford, 22, won a roster spot in spring training, but struggled initially. He was hitting .224/.295/.293 through 31 games when he landed on the injured list with a hamstring strain on May 4. Langford returned on May 28 and is starting to figure things out: .275/.333/.422 with only 18 strikeouts in 28 games since returning.
Langford is the first rookie to hit for the cycle since, well, Elly De La Cruz last June 23. He’s the second Rangers rookie to hit for the cycle, joining Oddibe McDowell in 1985. Jose Altuve had baseball’s last cycle on Aug. 23 of last season.
Despite Langford’s ascent, the defending World Series champion Rangers are 38-46 record following Sunday’s win. They are eight games out of a wild-card spot. There is still time to get on track and reach the postseason, but Texas needs to start stacking wins and soon.