Sebastian Walcott didn’t get the Arizona Fall League debut Texas Rangers fans were expecting last year. A right arm fatigue shutdown after one game wiped out what was supposed to be a showcase run for the club’s top prospect, and it also kept one of baseball’s most intriguing young players out of sight for a stretch.
Now he’s back in the AFL, and the early signs are exactly what the Rangers wanted to see.
Texas slipped Walcott onto the Surprise Saguaros roster less than a week before the league opener, giving him another shot to pile up at-bats and field reps before the minor league season winds down in November. The goal is straightforward: keep the bat moving while carefully building him back up on the throwing side.
That process has gone better than Walcott could have hoped. Speaking to MLB Pipeline’s Jim Callis, he said the early games back during the Arizona Fall League at the All-Star Break helped him settle in as a designated hitter after a long rehab stretch. That rehab time also gave him a chance to add muscle, and that strength showed up in some of the best power numbers of his minor league career.
Now, he says the elbow is no longer the issue.
“I think when I really felt comfortable was like that first full week and things started rolling from there,” he said. “I started getting really comfortable with throwing when I was doing my throwing progression, and while I was hitting, I didn't feel anything, so I was pretty comfortable with how my elbow was feeling. I was really, really confident in that.”
Texas is still handling him with a plan in place. Walcott is expected to play in the field two or three times a week so he can continue his throwing progression, and on the days he’s not out there, he’ll serve as the DH. Through his first two games in the AFL, he’s already logged time at shortstop and as the designated hitter, hitting .286/.333/.286.
His return to game action picked up gradually after he got back to Double-A Frisco. He stayed at DH until the final weekend of the regular season, then was cleared to throw and play shortstop. From there, he got into the field during the Texas League playoffs and later served as the DH for two games with Triple-A Round Rock.
At Frisco, Walcott put together the best offensive season of his career despite appearing in only 37 games. He hit .329/.404/.608 with 10 home runs and 21 RBI, and he came close to matching his career-high of 13 homers from last season, when he played 124 games.
He still hasn’t turned 21, and the Bahamas native is on a track that could have him in the Majors sometime in 2027, with Round Rock expected to be his starting point next season.
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