This story was excerpted from Kennedi Landry¡¯s Rangers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
NEW YORK -- Rangers legends roamed around Globe Life Field ahead of the 2024 All-Star Futures Game, when Adrian Beltr¨¦ and Michael Young managed the two teams.
Sebastian Walcott (the Rangers' No. 1 prospect and No. 69 overall, according to MLB Pipeline) wanted to seek out one player specifically: Elvis Andrus, Texas¡¯ longtime shortstop who debuted as a 20-year-old in 2009. Walcott may be following in his footsteps soon enough, as the 18-year-old shortstop is dominating in his first full season with High-A Hickory.
Walcott said he soaked up his time with Andrus and the other Rangers legends, and he returned to Hickory trying to keep his hot year rolling.
¡°I really found my stride in May and June, so I'm trying to continue that throughout the rest of the season,¡± Walcott said. ¡°It was a mental adjustment and how I approach the game, I'm not trying to do too much. That's the main thing. In June, I loosened up a little bit mentally. Just that mental adjustment.¡±
Walcott, a Bahamas native, made his U.S. debut last summer at age 17. He burst onto the scene with the Rookie-level Arizona Complex League Rangers, slashing .273/.325/.524 in 35 games. Walcott was promoted to Hickory on Sept. 3 and finished the season with the Crawdads.
But as with any young player, there were growing pains. Walcott struggled with Hickory after that late promotion (2-for-13 in four games), which carried over to the start of the 2024 season. Through the end of May, he was slashing just .195/.326/.315 with three homers and seven doubles in 44 games.
¡°We knew we were challenging him from the get-go,¡± said Rangers assistant general manager for player development Ross Fenstermaker. ¡°Being 18 years old, we thought it was going to be a challenge, and we believed in him.
¡°He has the mental capacity and ability to acclimate to the level and grow and progress. He's done exactly that. Every month has been better than the last. In terms of his offensive performance, which is even better than we expected, we just wanted to make sure that he was trending at or above the level, and it's been really positive.¡±
Everything changed for Walcott in June (.286/.337/.516 slash line in 23 games), then he was even better in July (.320/.393/.533 in 20 games). Through seven games in August, he¡¯s slashed .286/.300/.536. Each month, he¡¯s grown more comfortable as a player and in his ability on the baseball field.
Walcott recently became just the third player in the past 12 years to record at least 10 homers, 20 doubles and 15 stolen bases for a full-season affiliate at age 18, joining Fernando Tatis Jr. and Jackson Chourio.
¡°I'm trying to succeed,¡± Walcott said. ¡°I was trying to do too much at the beginning of the season. I wanted to succeed so much so early. I wanted to prove so much. Later on, I found out later on how young I am for High-A. And I realized that I really don¡¯t have to do so much. I just have to play my game. So that's what I learned.
¡°I felt a lot of weight on my shoulders [early on]. I just felt all this pressure, unnecessary pressure that I put on myself. In June, I just told myself that I¡¯m going to play as loose as possible."