Sebastian Walcott is forcing the Rangers’ hand.
The prized prospect has been on such a heater at Double-A Frisco that the question no longer feels like whether Texas will bring him up. It feels like when.
Since coming back from the UCL injury he suffered before this season, Walcott has surged back into the picture, and by 2027 he should be very much in the mix to make the club out of spring training. A short look this year is possible, too, with September call-up chatter already in the air as rosters expand.
What makes the situation so interesting is where Walcott fits. Unless Corey Seager is traded in the offseason, shortstop is spoken for. That likely pushes Walcott to third base, and that’s where things get complicated for Josh Jung.
Walcott, a 20-year-old who sits inside MLB Pipeline’s top 10 prospects, has homered in three straight games for Frisco. Those shots have come with 110+ mph exit velocities, the kind of loud contact that turns heads fast.
At 6-foot-4 and built with a smooth, lean frame, the Bahamian-born infielder is showing how easy the power can look when he’s locked in. He’s hitting .310/.395/.575 with 12 doubles, six home runs and 15 RBIs in 113 at-bats.
MLB Pipeline highlighted the surge with a note that he had three straight games with a homer and was hitting .444 over his past seven games for Double-A Frisco.
That kind of run puts pressure on the current picture in Texas. Jung has missed the last month, and that absence isn’t helping his case.
He was putting together a solid season, batting around .300 and giving the Rangers a steady presence while others around him either slumped or got hurt. But his defense has taken a step back this year, and that matters.
The Rangers also have two more years of control over Jung, which makes him a name to watch if Texas decides to reshape the roster. Third base hasn’t exactly been overflowing with difference-makers around the league, and with the free-agent class looking thin, even the best name in the group might be Alec Bohm and his 0.2 fWAR. Even if some options are declined, the overall crop still doesn’t inspire much confidence.
That creates a path where Jung could carry real trade value. Texas has other needs, and the club could use him to land a player who fits better or to bring in prospects and help replenish a farm system that needs it. Walcott’s rise makes that possibility harder to ignore.
Jung hasn’t been able to recapture the 2023 version of himself, the one that earned an All-Star nod and a fourth-place finish in Rookie of the Year voting. The calf injury hit just as he was beginning to rebuild some momentum at the plate, which only adds to the frustration. But with Walcott looking more and more like the future on the left side of the infield, Jung may be the one who has to keep looking over his shoulder.
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Rangers Fans Have A New Reason To Watch Sebastian Walcott Closely
Sebastian Walcott has already given Rangers fans plenty to monitor at Double-A Frisco, and the top prospect is backing up the buzz with a hot stretch at the plate. He has homered in three straight games and is riding a seven-game hitting streak, adding more evidence that his bat is translating quickly as he continues to move through the system.
Walcotts comeback makes the watch even more interesting because he is doing this after an internal brace procedure for a UCL tear, and he may be nearing a return to fielding duties soon. Through 30 games this season, the Rangers No. 1 prospect is hitting .319 with seven home runs and 16 RBIs, a line that only sharpens the anticipation around what comes next. [Read more 🡒]
St. Thomas Aquinas Opponent Is Now Pushing Back After Viral Backlash
The season opener between DeSoto High School and St. Thomas Aquinas was supposed to be about football, but it became a bigger conversation when three of DeSotos four captains declined to shake hands with the opposing players before kickoff. The moment, caught on live television, spread quickly and drew widespread criticism, turning a standard pregame routine into the kind of scene that lingers well beyond one Friday night.
DeSotos football program moved quickly to address it, issuing an apology and taking responsibility for the captains actions while framing the incident as a learning opportunity. On the field, St. Thomas Aquinas handled its business with a 38-14 win, but the aftereffects of the handshake moment are still what people are talking about, and now the reaction is becoming part of the story too. [Read more 🡒]
Rangers Face A Huge Home Test With Their Best Run On The Line
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The pitching matchups should help set the tone early, with Tampa Bay bringing a strong rotation plan into Arlington and Texas countering with a staff that has steadied itself of late. A lot of the attention will be on whether the Rangers can keep getting the kind of starts that have carried them through this recent run, because this series is the sort that can shape the mood around a club quickly when the standings are this tight. [Read more 🡒]