Davis Wendzel #53

Davis McKee Wendzel…he and his wife, the former Rachel Achterman, were married on 5/15/20…played three seasons at Baylor University, finishing with a career .326 batting average, 24 home runs, 121 RBI and more walks (100) than strikeouts (99) in 154 games for the Bears…shared Co-Big 12 Player of the Year honors with fellow Texas draftee Josh Jung (Texas Tech) in 2019, leading the conference in batting average (.367) and on-base percentage (.449)…committed just two errors in his college career…was teammates at Baylor with LHP Cody Bradford, Texas’ 2019 6th round selection…made NCAA Regional appearances each year at Baylor and helped the Bears to their first-ever Big 12 title in 2018…prepped at JSerra Catholic (Calif.) High School, winning Trinity League championships as a junior and senior…his sister, Bailey, played volleyball at Brown University…played little league and club baseball with Texas pitcher Kolby Allard in Southern California…was also selected by the Boston Red Sox in the 37th round of the 2018 June draft, but did not sign…played for the Hyannis Harbor Hawks in the Cape Cod League in 2018.

2023

Was one of two Rangers Minor Leaguers to club 30+ home runs (33-Abimelec Ortiz), batting .236/.361/.477/.838 with 19 2B and 74 RBI in a career-high 124 games with Round Rock (AAA) and tying for a share of the Pacific Coast League home run lead…became the 4th player in Express history to his 30 home runs in a season, first since Houston Astros outfielder Kyle Tucker did it in 2019…ranks among Texas farmhands: HR (second), BB (fourth, 77), runs (fifth, 84), total bases (T5th, 216), XBH (sixth, 49), RBI (seventh), SLG (ninth)…his 47 homers since the start of 2022 are the most in the Texas system…endured brutal season-opening stretch, going hitless in his first 21 AB spanning first seven games of the season, but proceeded hit safely in six of next seven contests (8-20, .400 in span) to raise his season average nearly 200 points…batted .286/.388/.619/1.007 (24-84) with seven HR, seven 2B, 16 RBI and 16 runs in May to earn Rangers minor league Player of the Month and PCL Player of the Week (5/22-28) honors…recorded career-high four hits on 6/4 vs. SUG (one HR, three RBI)…posted season-long 11-G hit streak from 8/12-24, batting .292 (14-48) with four HR and eight RBI… collected pair of multi-HR games on 5/25 and 9/23 (2 HR each); entered season with just one such game for his entire career (8/12/22)…fared significantly better against left-handed pitching, batting .355/.467/.752/.1.219 with 14 HR, compared to .193/.321/.377/.698 with 16 HR vs. righties.

2022

Spent majority of season at Round Rock (AAA) where he batted .201 (67-for-333) with then-career highs in HR (17) and RBI (52) over 91 G…endured pair of stints on the Injured List: 5/24-30 (calf tightness) and 6/28-8/2 (lower back tightness)… had 11 HR and .765 OPS in 41 games after return from second injury (beg. 8/4)…had extreme splits vs. LHP (.895 OPS) and RHP (.608 OPS)…made majority of starts at shortstop (50) and third base (35), posting a .954 fielding pct. (9 E/196 TC) as a SS.

2021

Combined to bat .238/.346/.399/.745 (53-for-223) with eight HR and 32 RBI in 63 games between Frisco (AA), ACL Rangers (Rk.) and Round Rock (AAA) while missing significant time with separate left wrist ailments…sustained a fractured hamate bone in his left wrist on 5/25 at Midland…underwent surgery and was sidelined until early July…following a rehab assignment in the Arizona Complex League (7/8-16), played one game with Frisco before being placed on the IL on 7/18 with a left wrist sprain that caused him to miss two more weeks of action…returned to the RoughRiders upon his recovery (8/19) before a promotion to Round Rock on 9/23…entered the campaign rated among the Rangers top prospects by MLB Pipeline (No. 12) and Baseball America (No. 15).

2020

Though he did not see official game action due to the cancellation of the minor league season, Wendzel was added to the club’s Alternate Training Site roster on 8/31 and worked out in Arlington for the remainder of the Major League regular season…he also participated in the Fall Developmental League following the campaign, batting .267 (12-45) with two home runs and four RBI…was sidelined with a right calf injury for a portion of the Fall League…appeared in 2 spring training ‘A’ games before camp was halted in March, going 1-for-3 with a double as a minor league extra…entered the season rated as the club’s No. 9 (MLB.com) and No. 15 (Baseball America) prospect.

2019

Wendzel was selected by Texas in the June draft on 6/3, signed his contract on 7/3 (by scout Josh Simpson), and debuted with the Rookie-level AZL Rangers on 8/22…was promoted to Short-A Spokane on 8/31…combined to go 6-for-19 (.316) with one home run and two RBI in seven games between both clubs.