MLB 2026: Why Wyatt Langford is an AL MVP sleeper pick

SURPRISE, Ariz. – It’s amazing how fast a ballplayer can go from overrated to overlooked.

Just a few years ago, Texas Rangers outfielder Wyatt Langford landed at number four ESPN’s Kelly McDaniel’s Top 100 Prospects List. He had played only 44 games in the minor leagues at the time, yet broke camp with the defending champions as their everyday left fielder. Many considered him a candidate for American League Rookie of the Year.

Langford, you may or may not be surprised to know this, but nothing in particular was known about it. He didn’t have time to be.

“I really wasn’t in the minor league system that long,” Langford said. “To be honest, I didn’t even really understand the whole possibility thing. I think a lot of people, they just don’t want to know about it. You know you’re valued when you spend so little time in the minors, though, right?”

Whether they were aware of it or not, the publicity and their rapid growth meant increased external expectations. Langford also performed well and finished seventh in the 2024 Rookie of the Year voting. Ultimately, that rookie race was where the overlooked phase of Langford’s career began, as he finished seventh, even though his bWAR (3.9) was higher than any of the six who received more support.

This pattern continued in 2025, when his bWAR reached 5.6, which was 12th best in the AL. Langford still failed to make the All-Star team despite ranking 18th in the league in bWAR at the time of the break. This winter, when the Team USA roster for the World Baseball Classic was put together, Langford was left out. His name came up as a possible replacement for the injured Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder corbin carrollbut went to the spot roman anthony of boston red sox.

It bears asking: Did we become so enamored with how good we thought Langford could be that we overlooked how good he already has become?

“I think he’s tremendous,” said Rangers president of baseball operations Chris Young. “He’s made progress last year, and he’s going to get better. But he’s already a very good player. I think he has the potential to become one of the Great Player.”

When ESPN released its most recent rankings Top 100 Players in BaseballLangford landed at No. 39. That’s great, but there are reasons to think he’s underrated.

First, that ranking puts Langford at 17th among AL players. As mentioned, he ranked 12th by bWAR last season, and that was despite missing 28 games due to injury. Second, and more importantly, he is only 24 years old – still at the stage of his career where we can expect his trajectory to continue upward.

In fact, as Opening Day approaches and people begin speculating on this year’s major winners and award candidates in the usual array of preview material, much of the attention will naturally focus on the AL MVP. aaron judge And bobby wit jr. Many people will consider whether cal raleigh Can claim for the prize again.

It’s not hard to make the case that Langford is a sleeper MVP candidate we’ve forgotten to talk about. And Langford, more inclined to lead by example than oratory, is unlikely to remind us of that with anything other than his play.

Young said, “Wyatt is a low-key personality who doesn’t draw much attention to himself.” “Last year, our team didn’t perform at a level that got a lot of attention nationally. And so I think that’s probably why he’s been on the radar a little bit.”

Under the radar or not, Langford’s sophomore season was pretty special. That 5.6 bWAR was the 93rd best by a position player in a season at age 23 – out of 7,757 such seasons. This number marks Langford as All-Star caliber, even if he is waiting for his first true Midsummer Classic selection.

Betting markets don’t exactly agree on Langford’s MVP expectations, but a consensus estimate gives him about a 2.2% chance of winning. In other words, he is being ignored there too. Everyone is sleeping on that guy.

First-year Rangers manager Skip Shoemaker said, “There’s a lot more that you’re going to see, just because he’s still learning the big leagues.” “He’s very good at making quick, at-bat-to-pitch adjustments. They’re really good players who can adjust and don’t have to wait a week or two at a time.”

The simplest way to think about it is that if Langford matches last season’s bWAR increase, he’ll finish at 7.3. He’s an MVP candidate. Sure, you’ll need some support in the health and/or performance departments from Judge and Wits, but you can become an MVP level player without actually winning awards.

So how can Langford take that next step that will put him squarely among the elite and make us once again applaud him on a national level?

“I want to be there for 155-plus games,” Langford said. “That’s the goal.”

This was Langford’s response when asked what part of his game he’s focusing on improving, and it’s telling that he has a particular number in mind. He has played only 134 games in each of his first two seasons, missing time because of a hamstring problem as a rookie and then enduring three injured-list stints because of an oblique strain in 2025.

“The biggest part where I really wasn’t able to do as well as I wanted to was not being healthy,” Langford said. “Last year I was hurt a lot, [which] I had more to do with the offseason, I wasn’t doing the work I should have been doing. So I was able to learn it and then take care of it this offseason.”

If Langford hits his game goal, it shortens the math to reach the MVP-level battle. Last year’s total increased to 6.5, a ratio of 155 games. But there is plenty of room for improvement for Langford beyond staying in the lineup.

In some ways, Langford has revealed a more complete arsenal of tools than the potential grade has already suggested. He has power and speed, we knew that. But the speed part has translated into elite-level defensive metrics over the past two years, which is good enough for him to play center field from time to time. He is a 30-steal candidate this season, and has shown significant growth in his plate discipline, especially in the second half of 2025.

This cross section of skills makes Langford a high-floor player who provides first-division value, even when his slash line isn’t popping. Now he just needs to attack with his hit tool. Langford’s career average is .247, and his strikeout rate increased in his sophomore year. But the overall profile is strong and getting stronger, so expect him to feature prominently in the upper third of the Texas lineup.

“I see him as one of the best hitters in our lineup, someone I’d like to see more often during games,” Shoemaker said. “When Wyatt Langford gets four or five at-bats a game I’ll take my chance.”

Langford is a patient hitter, almost to a fault, but the problem is not how often he swings, but how often he makes contact when he does, especially against off-speed pitches. If he shows gains in that area while staying healthy for an entire season – watch out, Terrace.

Spring training numbers should be taken with a grain of salt, but consider what Langford has done so far this spring. He has posted great numbers in each of his three big league spring training appearances, and this is no exception. But what really stands out is that he has struck out only four times in 39 plate appearances so far, which is a stark contrast to his performance in that field during his last two Cactus League seasons. He did so while slugging 1,000.

It’s not sure if some of that will carry over to the regular season, but if it does, have an open spot on your MVP ballot.

There’s plenty of history for players of Langford’s age and performance level becoming superstars over 24 seasons. Witt is one of them, going from 4.3 bWAR in his age-23 season to 9.4 the following campaign and finishing second in MVP voting. The history of players age 23 who have a bWAR of 4 or better suggests Langford has about a 17% chance of jumping above the seven-win mark.

Development is rarely linear, and it’s certainly possible that Langford will stagnate, or even take a step back. For a very recent example of a 23-year-old superstar going in a different direction, consider this cody bellinger He managed to win the NL MVP in 2019 with a historic 8.7 bWAR at that age. Instead of turning it into all-time greatness, Bellinger went through a tough three years before re-emerging as a very good (and well-paid) player.

So you never know, but from an intangible standpoint there’s a lot about Langford that the Rangers like and that could contribute to him getting closer to the ceiling in the next season or two.

“There are a lot of ways he can change the game,” Shoemaker said. “And I think there’s going to be more stolen bases. I think there’s going to be more first-and-thirds and doubles.

“But I think it’s not all just a hit tool. I think what makes him so attractive as a real leader of a club is that he does everything well.”

The Rangers’ offense was one of the most disappointing – and puzzling – units in baseball last year. Young’s strategy this offseason was to revamp the offense in an effort to be less volatile, both in terms of home-to-road performance and game-to-game consistency.

Whether this strategy is successful or not, perhaps the Rangers’ best hope for an offensive counterattack comes from something more straightforward. It is an aggressive catalyst for emerging and complementing established stars corey seegerGiving Texas a deadly one-two combo near the top of its lineup.

In other words, if Langford can take another big step forward like he did a year ago, it could do as much as any change made this offseason to fix the Rangers’ hitting problems.

“It’s definitely a different look,” Langford said, “as far as who’s in the lineup, etc. But we feel pretty good about it.”

If you’ve forgotten how good Wyatt Langford is, and should have been, maybe this will refresh your memory. Within the industry, both the Rangers and the teams they play are well aware of what Langford is – and what he can become.

“Everyone in the game understands how good he is,” Young said. “And the best is yet to come.”