Our weekly spotlight of 2023 draft prospects began with a closer look at LSU outfielder Dylan Crews, who many people have as the top prospect in this draft class. We then moved on to Chase Dollander, a right-handed pitcher from the University of Tennessee.
Our third profile article looked at high school outfielder Walker Jenkins. That was followed by LSU pitcher Paul Skenes. Last week’s profile was high school outfielder Max Clark, whose season opened that same day. Here’s our draft preview article in case you missed it.
I held off on Florida outfielder Wyatt Langford because he was out of action after getting hit with a foul ball off of his own bat. He returned to action after just two full weeks, despite reports he would miss at least six weeks.
Langford turned 21 years old in November. He’s listed at 6’1″, 225 pounds. He bats and throws right-handed.
Starting with MLB Pipeline, they rank him third overall in this draft class. He gets grades of 60 for his hitting, 65 for power, 55 for running, and 50 each for fielding and arm. He was a multi-sport player in high school, who started concentrating just on baseball in college. The late start led to him going undrafted out of high school, then playing just four games as a freshman. He broke out last year, putting up a .355/.447/.719 slash line in 66 games. He homered 26 times.
The late start to baseball means he doesn’t have a track record of success, but he could also have huge upside potential as he plays more games. The missed time this year didn’t help his case to go #1, though he returned with enough time left in the season.
Pipeline says he has five-tool potential, with a strong approach at the plate that allows him to post solid BB/SO numbers, while tapping into his raw power. He’s big and strong, so those power numbers are legit. They believe he will remain an above average runner in the future, while his defense in the outfield is a bit raw due to playing third base and catcher in high school.
Baseball America ranks him second in this draft class. They say that some scouts have put 70 grades on his raw power, which they say is backed up in his exit velocity numbers from 2022. They note a trouble with breaking balls on the outing half of the plate, which could lead to him not getting on base as much as projected. BA also mentions the same things on defense/running, while saying that he could at least start as a center field in pro ball, even if he doesn’t stick there.
Fangraphs ranks him third in this draft class, giving him a 50 Future Value rating, with medium risk of getting there. They note that he does a lot of his damage on pitches in the upper half of the zone, but has trouble with off-speed pitches in the lower/outer zone. They also note that he could end up being a power-over-contact hitter, with enough raw power to be a solid regular corner outfielder in that scenario. They aren’t as set on him being able to play center field at any point.
Keith Law has Langford rated #1 in this class, giving him higher grades for his running, while noting that the speed should help him play center field in the future. As you might expect with him being #1, Law loves the tool package and raw power he provides.
Here are some videos
This one from Kyler Peterson has some batting practice, followed by a lot of game action
Here’s a different look at game action from Prospects Live
