ARLINGTON — This isn’t how Davis Wendzel envisioned it.
He didn’t expect to be at the airport waiting for his bags when he got the call to, well, get his bags and get to the airport, because the Texas Rangers were calling him up to the big leagues. Didn’t bank on what to do about his wife and infant son, who were on a plane just behind him, coming from California for their first reunion since the end of spring training.
Look, the call never comes how you envision it. In the case of Wendzel, perhaps what’s most important is that he still envisioned it at all. Seemingly blocked by a fellow first-rounder from the moment he was drafted and only further blocked by big-time free agents, Wendzel somehow found himself making his MLB debut in a storybook situation Tuesday. Only thing that ruined it: Wendzel’s former Baylor teammate Shea Langeliers hit three homers to account for all of Oakland’s runs in the A’s’ 4-3 win. The last one came in the ninth off José Leclerc, after the always-on-edge closer put the tying run on with a walk.
“It’s been a long journey,” Wendzel said Tuesday before going hitless in three at-bats. “It’s not how I thought it would go. But we have a really good ballclub here. And we have a lot of really talented players. The last two years, it’s been blocked for a reason. But I just took the last year to kind of figure out what’s going to make me the best player I can be and that was really a helpful time. Now, it’s just whatever I can do to help the team by being versatile and doing what I can.”
What the Rangers need is some stability in the infield. It’s why Wendzel, the 41st overall pick in the 2019 draft, is finally in the majors. In the first two weeks of the season, the Rangers’ All-Star infield has been pelted with a hailstorm of injuries. Gold Glove first baseman Nathaniel Lowe is still out with an oblique strain. MVP runner-up Corey Seager is still nursing a tender groin from sports hernia surgery and was given a day off Tuesday. Josh Jung, who was co-Big 12 Player of the Year alongside Wendzel in 2019 and drafted just ahead of him, is out for at least eight weeks with a fractured wrist. The Rangers moved Jung to the 60-day IL on Tuesday to make room for purchasing Wendzel’s contract.
And Justin Foscue, the Rangers’ first-rounder in 2020 who was called up last week to replace Jung on the roster, is now out with his third oblique injury since being drafted. While the Rangers placed Foscue on the IL on Monday, they did not have an update Tuesday on the severity of the injury.
It was a lot of bodies that had to fall for Wendzel, who turns 27 next month, to get a chance. It speaks to the depth of the Rangers’ roster. That he’s in the majors, though, also speaks to the depth of the farm system, specifically the level of trust the Rangers have in the position player side of the system at the moment. Wendzel is the third position player to make his MLB debut in the first 11 games for the Rangers following Wyatt Langford and Foscue. Last time the Rangers had that many players make debuts that early into a season was the only time it happened: 1974. The trio was Mike Hargrove, Jim Sundberg and Mike Cubbage. All went on to solid major league careers.
The debut also speaks to something else: The determination of Wendzel. The Rangers had other options. They could have done what they did last year and call up Jonathan Ornelas, who was already on the 40-man roster, or purchased the contract of veteran Matt Duffy. Wendzel, however, has reasserted himself as a prospect in the last year after overcoming his own spate of injuries that dogged him almost from the time he was drafted through 2022.
The Rangers simplified his swing a year ago to get him to anchor his back leg a little more. It resulted in less of a leg kick and more power production. Wendzel hit 30 homers at Triple-A Round Rock and posted an .838 OPS. Still wasn’t enough to earn him a spot on the 40-man roster. There was some thought he might get taken in the Rule 5 draft last December, but when he didn’t, the Rangers extended him an invitation to major league spring training. Hit .366 with a .950 OPS for the spring. Continued that with a 1.076 OPS in the first week of games at Round Rock.
“He’ll be comfortable out there,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said. “We’ve had him around these guys for two springs. He knows them. It helps shorten the grace period. He’s a really good third baseman with some pop. I’m excited to excited to see him.”
He wasn’t the only one. Rangers teammate Cody Bradford, who will start on Wednesday, and Wendzel roomed for two years at Baylor. They have become best friends. Bradford was one of the first people Wendzel reached out to after his father and wife following news of the callup. Bradford’s wife, Madi, had volunteered to drive to Austin to pick up Wendzel’s wife, Rachel, and their son if Davis needed to scoot to get to Arlington.
On Tuesday, as Wendzel readied to meet media for the first time as a big leaguers, Bradford, who had exactly 79 days of big league service at the moment, sat with him for a moment beforehand.
“When I got to the big leagues, Brad Miller told me something that really hit home with me,” Bradford said. “He said, ‘Once you play today, you are a big leaguer. No matter what happens today, whether it goes phenomenal or not, you will always be a big leaguer. And that’s something you can hang your hat on.
“I wanted to share the same thing with Davis. He’s a big leaguer now.”
Even if the journey or the call didn’t go how he envisioned it.
He’s a big leaguer now.
Twitter: @Evan_P_Grant
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