In 2023, the Rangers were tied for first place in team fielding percentage and had five Gold Glove finalists as Lowe was joined by Jonah Heim and Adolis Garcia as winners.

2024 was not the same year defensively for the Rangers as they fell to 7th in fielding percentage and saw both Garcia and Heim being well into the negatives in run value.

Earlier this week when the MLB announced the finalists for the 2024 Gold Glove Awards that reflected as Texas had just two finalists compared to last year’s five.

Rangers first baseman Nathaniel Lowe and second baseman Marcus Semien were both named finalists for the second straight season.

Other than those two, no other Rangers had a very eye-popping season defensively except for the guy who played college baseball just over a year ago.

Wyatt Langford wowed Rangers fans in his rookie season with his impressive approach at the plate and his elite speed but his glove in left and sometimes center field should be talked about more.

Langford finished the year with an OAA of 2, a Run value of 5, and a Range RV of 2, all of those metrics well above the league average.

Taking a look at Yankees left fielder Alex Verdugo who was announced as a Gold Glove finalist and you can easily see why Langford had a case.

Verdugo had an OAA of 0, a Run-Value of 3, and a Range RV of 0, all worse than Langford by multiple.

Based on comparison alone, it’s easy to see why Langford has a solid argument to be one of the three Gold Glove finalists.

Whether or not he was named a finalist this season, the Rangers still look to have an elite defender for years to come in Langford.

Slotting into left field, Langford will provide the elite defense of a center fielder while being versatile enough to play all three outfield positions.

Not to mention what Langford did at the plate last season slashing .253/.325/.415 with 16 home runs and 74 RBI.

In September, Langford became the first Ranger ever to win the American League Rookie and Player of the Month in the same month after he hit .300 with 8 home runs and 20 RBI.