SURPRISE, Ariz. — When Wyatt Langford is taking batting practice, it's as if he came out of the womb swinging a bat.
Effortless, powerful, compact. His swing conjures up baseball immortals and could get a Texas Rangers fan salivating over his possible future in Arlington. He's scheduled to start in the Rangers' Cactus League opener at 1 p.m. Friday at Surprise Stadium.
Langford, however, was just like many of us when learning to hit as a nine-year-old in Florida.
"I couldn't hit worth a lick," said Langford, who is trying to make the Rangers' Opening Day roster after being drafted less than a year ago.
"Compared to my [Little League] teammates," Langford said, hitting did not come easy.
"It just made me so mad," Langford said. "That's kind of how it all started."
What changed for him at the plate as a kid?
"I think my dad was tired of hearing me complain and cry about it, so we finally started working on it," he said. "He made me hit every hour of the day. It was probably just the reps."
Langford, who turned 21 in November, has excelled at the game, not only at the University of Florida, but during his less than two months of minor league ball with the Rangers last summer. Much of that success, he said, is due in part to his calm demeanor. He got that out of his system early.
"I think it's definitely important," he said. "I try to go out on the field with my personality. I try to stay calm and collected the whole time I'm playing, and that's what helps me be successful. Just never get too high and never get too low."
But he wasn't born that way. He worked at it.
"Everyone changes growing up," he said. "From high school to college to pro ball, it's something you have to finetune and figure out kind of what works best for you."
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