Feb. 24: Walcott underwent an internal brace procedure and not a full UCL reconstruction (Tommy John surgery), MLB.com’s Kennedi Landry reports. That’s relatively good news, in that it’s possible he could be cleared to start hitting before the end the season. He’s looking at a timetable of five to six months, Landry adds.
Feb. 12: Rangers top prospect Sebastian Walcott, one of the most touted prospects in the entire sport, could miss the entire 2026 season due to an elbow injury that will require surgery, president of baseball operations Chris Young announced to the team’s beat this morning (link via Jeff Wilson of DLLS Sports). Walcott could potentially get at-bats late in the season, and if he’s healthy, he’ll be a prime candidate to make up some lost reps in the Arizona Fall League and/or in winter ball. Young added that righty Nabil Crismatt, who’s in camp as a non-roster invitee, is also headed for elbow surgery (via Wilson).
Walcott appeared in last year’s Arizona Fall League, but his time there was cut short by elbow inflammation. Surgery was not recommended at the time. Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News writes that Walcott spent the offseason rehabbing and felt strong entering camp, but he recently experienced renewed discomfort when throwing.
A consultation with renowned surgeon Dr. Keith Meister revealed “structural changes.” Walcott will have surgery to repair the ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow, it seems, but it has not yet been determined whether he’ll require a full Tommy John procedure (i.e. ligament reconstruction) or an internal brace procedure to repair/strengthen the existing ligament. The latter comes with a shorter timetable for recovery.
It’s a brutal blow to the Rangers and their farm. Walcott is only 19 years old (20 next month) but already appeared on the cusp of MLB readiness. The Bahamian-born shortstop spent the 2025 campaign in Double-A and hit .255/.355/.386 (110 wRC+) despite being the youngest player in the league.
In 552 plate appearances, Walcott hit 13 home runs, 19 doubles and two triples. He also went 32-for-42 in stolen base attempts, walked at a huge 12.7% clip and only struck out in 19.6% of his plate appearances. That’d be a productive season even for a more physically developed 23- or 24-year-old, but Walcott enjoyed that success in spite of being five years younger than the average Texas League player.
Virtually every prospect list one can find will include Walcott within its top 20. He’s currently No. 16 at Baseball America, 16th on Keith Law’s list at The Athletic, seventh at MLB.com, and all the way up to fifth on Kiley McDaniel’s list at ESPN. Scouting reports laud him for possessing enormous, plus-plus raw power with good plate discipline, a feel to hit, plus speed and a plus arm. There’s some concern that he’ll outgrow shortstop — he’s already listed at 6’4″ and 190 pounds before turning 20 — but he has plenty of bat to stick at third base or in the outfield if such a shift is eventually needed.
It’s plausible that a healthy Walcott, with a big enough start to his season, could have emerged as an option in the majors for Texas. He’s not going to displace Corey Seager at shortstop, but third base, second base and (to a lesser extent) the outfield are all less settled in Arlington. All of that will be put on hold for the time being now, and Walcott’s debut will surely be pushed back into at least the 2027 season, as he’ll need to ease back into things as he rehabs from this health setback.
On the plus side, Walcott’s meteoric rise through the system means that youth is still very much on his side. He could miss the entire 2026 season, play well in the AFL and winter ball, open next season back at Double-A and still push to make his MLB debut during his age-21 season. The injury is a clear development setback, but for a player who has accomplished so much at such a young age, the outlook remains quite bright.
As for Crismatt, the upcoming elbow procedure scuttles any hope of cracking the big league roster. It’s not yet clear what type of procedure he’ll require. He’d been slated to pitch for his native Colombia in the World Baseball Classic, but those plans are obviously dashed as well.
The 31-year-old Crismatt spent part of the 2024 season with the Rangers’ Triple-A club and returned on a minor league deal this winter. He pitched in the majors with the D-backs last year and recorded a 3.71 ERA, 16.3% strikeout rate and 5.9% walk rate in 34 innings. Crismatt has suited up for four clubs across parts of six MLB seasons and carries a lifetime 3.71 ERA, 20.6% strikeout rate and 7% walk rate in 211 innings — most of them coming in relief.
I am sad to hear this. Wish him the best in his recovery.
Agreed. But can’t he at least DH? Ohtani did so while recovering from elbow injuries. seems like it’d be best for his development
We don’t want to rush his development into the big leagues yet; he’s still really young, and we need him to develop as much as he can in AAA before we call him up. (Seager occupies his position)
True. but it’s not about rushing him to the big leagues. rather, it’s about continuing his development in the minors as far as hitting so that it’s not a lost year.
Most really good prospects skip over AAA and/or only spend a minimal amount of time there. It’s not quite a development level these days so much as it’s a bunch of journeymen/depth guys hanging on in case a rash of injuries or something happens to the MLB team. If Walcott had been able to stay healthy and have a monster spring, I think the Rangers would’ve called him up to play 2B sooner than later.
That is a really tough pill to swallow. Hope he recovers quickly.
19 years old and already needs elbow surgery and will probably miss this season. Spring training really hasn’t even started yet. You can call me whatever you want for saying this but baseball in general has to find a way to keep these guys from getting hurt so much. So many season-ending surgeries or missing most of the season surgeries. These guys get hurt combing their eyebrows.
Make the minimum bat weight 38 ounces and every pitch above 96 mph a ball. Sounds silly but it could very well work.
Ban radar gun readings in stadiums.
Teach guys how to pitch instead of max effort.
Reds – that’s a crazy take, I love it. Just might work, hahahaha
Injuries are an unavoidable part of sports. You play, you’ll likely get hurt at some point. No amount of conditioning, wrapping dudes in bubble wrap, or forcing them to throw/hit/run softer is going to stop it from happening. Hell, players sometimes suffer season altering/ending injuries slipping in the shower or walking to their cars.
I’ve probably seen more career enders than most back in the day. Medical science is a whole heck of a lot better 30 years later, yet there seem to be more arm injuries. Luckily many are not career enders like they used to be but there is still something wrong going on with the way these guys are being trained as any older pitching coach will tell you.
I just don’t think there’s any magic fix to baseball injuries besides putting robots on the field, which defeats the purpose of being able to watch some of the greatest athletes on the planet compete, or just ending baseball altogether, which would really suck.
You can minimize injury risk through workload management, increased rest days, adjusting mechanics, nutrition, conditioning, etc., but that isn’t going to prevent injuries. As long as flesh and bone humans are playing sports, flesh and bone humans are going to get injured.
I tend to disagree, simply because injuries were far less common “back in the day”. I think first off, there needs to be a focus on being in good shape – not good baseball condition. Seriously doubt Nolan Ryan could have pitched into his 40s in the kind of shape most of these guys report to camp in. Also, kids NEED to stop “specializing” in a single sport, especially kids that want to be pitchers. The arm simply cannot sustain that excessive motion repeatedly. I didn’t have any injuries in baseball until AAA and then not until I had repeatedly threw FAR harder than I usually would. Once the injury occurred, I was done. Surgeries were far less common then and rehab was an unknown, not something that could be truly projected.
Were injuries really less common back then, or were players just up and quitting when they got hurt badly enough like you did? Had Koufax undergone modern treatments for his arm injuries, is it possible he could have made it to age 35-40 instead of going home at 30?
I don’t know TBH. I haven’t done the research. Just going off of how I remember the past. I know there was another player who had a far better chance to make it to the show than most who was also injured and just up and quit rather than having the surgery and going through the rehab. Many of the others I played with did make it to the show and were injury free, none of whom were baseball only when growing up. And yes, injuries have always been part of the game. And I would have loved it if Koufax would have played another 10 years but I thoroughly respect his choice. I remember Mantle having injury issues, but I don’t remember there being concerns for the rest of the roster. Looking at Mike Trout in CA, and thinking he’s not the only guy having issues on their roster. Perhaps it’s that we have far more access to information on players now than we did in the past. Just feels like injuries are far more common in the game today. I truly hope Walcott recovers quickly with no lingering issues and is able to return to the game soon and in full health so we can see what kind of player he will become.
Yep
The process of simply extrapolating a teenager into his full adult body and therefore to give massive weight to prospects who are young for their level, like Walcott, is just silly. It assumes they will continue to develop linearly until they are superstars at 22 or something. That’s just not how Nature works.
He’s 5 years younger than the average player at that level and he more than held his own. That means something. Great prospects like him are the guys who usually end up in the majors before they’re 21. This will be a setback but he’ll probably land in the majors early in 2027.
Looks like we might have the next Jurickson Profar for the Rangers. But I guess we will see.
Fix the elbow now – move forward. Tough situation, but the best choice.
This is not good. Walcott is really good, but it’s not good to have this. He has superstar potential and who knows. Hall of Fame? Terrible, terrible, terrible,
media0.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTc5MGI3NjExeXk5Zmwx…
So close, ahhhhhhhggggg
Prospects are prospects until different
And most great major league players were once top prospects.
All beagles are dogs, but not all dogs are beagles.
And pitchers are one pitch away from TJS. And most FAs age out of their contracts. So what’s your point? That there is a contingent of players that are risk-free?
Will he miss next year as well then the players are locked out? Might be a long time until Walcott is back on a field.
18 comments? Rangers fans do not exist it seems lol
We are just used to this…
What if he’s a monumental bust… Basically gonna be gone 2 years with the lockout. Yes still young but not generationally young at that point. And to think you could get a proven star for him… It’s worth it if he’s all he’s cracked up to be, but they don’t have the best track record with prospects.
Under the sea
I do not understand the Rangers. Yes, an elite prospect needs to make it to the pros. The Ranger organization tends to pride itself on having the youngest players at each level. They MAYBE make the pros and then struggle. A player’s prime is 25-31. The Rangers seem to think it is 19-25. Develop! Get the right years of control. My 2 cents.
Don’t forget they refuse to trade the “untouchable” prospects that MAYBE make the MLB and struggle… Meanwhile they could get a proven star from a team trying to tear it down. It’s becuase until seager and Marcus, they refused to spend… So they are cheap, and stupid. Bad combo
And yes we got the one world series. I don’t think we will be back in a long time though
Guyer – Rangers have been to 3 series in the last 15 years. They might be back sooner than you think. Once every 5 years on average ain’t too bad.
They won the division twice in a row too! 2015 and 2016.
And the Rangers chose Jon Daniels instead of keeping Nolan Ryan. That’s stupid on steroids and we’re exceedingly lucky the baseball gods gave us that world series in 2023. Seem to be back to same team that tried to bring David Clyde to the majors shortly after drafting him from high school. Why do you think other teams know to not do that now? Until / unless CY proves different, they are definitely the OLD 1970s version of the Texas Rangers.
I think some folks at fangraphs years ago said a player’s true physical prime is in their early-mid 20s, with the crest being ages 23-25, and that by ages 25-31 they start to tail off slightly before declining. Most really good players are basically toast by their mid-30s. It’s different for generational talents like Judge, Ohtani, and so on, but the vast majority of players aren’t generational. It’s why when a team has a really good prospect lighting up the minor leagues at or near Walcott’s age, they bring him up ASAP to take advantage of his best physical years.
I like Sebastian. Some players are under the radar signings. This cat is under the sea
Jeez he’s only 19 years old. Good luck young man!
Oh to be 19 years old again and to be walking the streets of Brooklyn with 2 cans of paint, bell bottoms and rolls of quarters in your pockets planning for Saturday night. Ho ho ho indeed
Sports injuries are not out of control, they are more widely identified and reported on. I am old enough to remember when players quit the game due to sore arms, sore elbows, sore wrists and sore backs. They just retired. Now there is a surgery or a shot or a pill for almost everything. Still, you’d think by now there would be better prevention available to players to avoid injury.
There’s really no way to prevent injuries. You can attempt to minimize the risks through proper conditioning, managing rest days, cleaning up mechanics, nutrition, etc., and you can prolong careers through surgeries, shots, and pills, but it won’t stop the injuries from happening eventually anyway. Humans are biodegradable. Only way to stop injuries is to build robots that can play ball, but that’s so far out into the future even with every major business pushing AI now.
Thank goodness for year round baseball, endless travel to showcase tournaments, hours of extra practice with “expert” advice, helicopter parenting and no longer allowing anything to be “play”. Gosh, what went wrong? So many injuries from using the same body parts in the same way until they brake down? I don’t understand.
There is NOTHING to “figure out.”
Back in my day, we used to play multiple sports. In addition to avoiding these kinds of injuries, they helped grow other skills instead of being hyperfocused on one. I think we need to get back to that.
That’s my “old man yells at clouds” moment for the day. Shoot I’m not even that old.
This 51 year old first ballot Hall of Famer ran cross country in the fall, played basketball in the winter and baseball in the spring.
Wonder who that was?