ARIZONA – Sebastian Walcott isn’t giving up on the 2026 season – yet.
The Rangers’ top prospect and one of the top 10 in baseball will undergo elbow surgery in Arlington next week, but left open the possibility he could play in games before the end of the minor league season.
“I may miss most of it, or all of it,” Walcott said. “But I wouldn’t rule it out.”
A lot depends on the specific procedure Rangers team medical director Dr. Keith Meister performs on him, which can’t be fully determined until he gets an up-close look at the ligament. The internal brace procedure, which doesn’t require full reconstruction, has a significantly shorter rehab time for position players than does traditional “Tommy John.” If Walcott requires full reconstruction, he will miss the full year.
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But the hope is that can be avoided. And if so, there is at least a precedent for a quicker return. Walcott, who turns 20 next month, cited a conversation with Meister in which the doctor mentioned the case of Irving’s Trevor Story, currently with the Boston Red Sox.
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Story had an internal brace procedure in early January of 2023 and was back on the field – as a shortstop – on a rehab assignment by late July. The full recovery took only six months. A similar time frame for Walcott would potentially have him ready by mid- to late August. But it would allow for swinging as a DH perhaps even a bit sooner than that.
Either way, Walcott refuses to wallow in frustration over the injury. That has come, when his elbow started barking again last week after he ramped up throwing at the Rangers camp, and gone as soon as Meister laid out the plan.
“The frustration was the highest it could be, when you are coming back [after rest in the fall seemed to eliminate soreness] and when you are going to be around these guys in big league camp and learn a lot. It was frustrating. A lot of emotions. It’s unfortunate.
“You know, God has a plan. I trust in that plan. And I know that when I come back, it’s going to be a bigger and better version of myself.”
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