Wyatt Langford, a Florida Gators outfielder who is considered one of the top prospects in the upcoming Major League Baseball amateur draft, will be out after an undisclosed injury Friday night that required surgery, according to 247 Sports’ Jacob Rudner. Rudner added that Langford was in good spirits and expected to make a full recovery.
“He was seen and treated by the doctors last night,” Florida head coach Kevin O’Sullivan told Rudner. “It will be a while before he comes back.”
Langford, 21, left Friday’s game after hitting .431/.557/.931 with six homers and six more walks (14) as strikeouts in 16 contests. He entered spring ranked by CBS Sports as the No. 3 prospect in class. Here’s what we wrote as part of our draft preseason ranking:
The Gators have drafted five players into the top 10 since 1990. You should add at least one more to that total in July. Langford is the total package offensively. He commands the zone; he hits the ball with authority; and he hits with an above-average clip (his strikeout-to-walk ratio in the SEC game was 1.28). Scouts expect Langford to be at least a plus hitter in terms of his batting average and batting power, and if on-base chops were considered a tool he would score a plus there as well. He played defensively last year out of respect for two top-70 picks in Sterlin Thompson (now of the Rockies) and Jud Fabian (Orioles) at left field. A veteran evaluator estimated that with a coin toss, Langford has a chance to make midfield his own in the long run; If the coin lands wrong, he has the arm for the right thing. Langford will almost certainly finish in the top five and it shouldn’t surprise anyone if he’s in contention for the top overall pick depending on financial requirements and how the Pirates plan to split their bonus pool.
The Gators, 14-3 on the season, will play their first series of the season against SEC competition next Thursday when they start a three-game set against Alabama.