“I feel healthy now at this point,” said Langford, who was scheduled to face pitching in the Rangers’ tunnel batting cage for the first time since aggravating the injury during an attempt to play in an unofficial game in Arizona late last month. “The first time I felt like I was kind of just trying to come back from it while it was still progressing. But now, I feel like I’m healthy. And, yeah, I’m antsy.”
What’s uncertain is how long it will take for Langford to go from facing live pitching to returning to the major leagues.
Count the Rangers among those who are most curious, because there is not a lot of familiarity with how the specific muscle he strained will respond.
“It’s a good question,” manager Skip Schumaker said. “I don’t really know how many at-bats it will take because I’ve never seen this injury before. I think you kind of have to monitor it and get his legs underneath him, so when he comes back, he’s ready to play.”
Given how the Rangers offense has struggled without both Langford and Seager, the team will need him to contribute immediately.
In the 29 games since Langford last played, the Rangers were 12-17 entering Monday with a .230/.315/.363/.671 slash line and were averaging just 3.59 runs per game, nearly a full run less than the league scoring average for the year.