Are Rangers Grooming Sebastian Walcott to be Corey Seager Clone?

Sebastian Walcott’s rise in the Texas Rangers organization draws obvious comparisons to Corey Seager.

It’s one of the reasons why he’s so well respected in the community of analysts that rank prospects.

Walcott has been the Rangers’ top prospect since the start of the season, and nothing has changed two months into the season. Baseball America ranked him at No. 9 in May, which was a 13-spot jump from the preseason. MLB Pipeline also has him at No. 9.

It was ESPN’s turn to update its prospect rankings this week, as Kiley McDaniel unveiled his updated Top 50, which included action for April and May.

He had Walcott at No. 4, part of a cluster of young shortstop prospects that included San Diego’s Leodalis De Vries and Milwaukee’s Jesus Made.

The Sebastian Walcott-Corey Seager Comparison

Seager and Walcott strike similar profiles, even though their ages are more than a decade apart. Seager is 31 years old while Walcott is 19 years old. Both are 6-foot-4.

In some circles, neither was expected to be a shortstop in the Majors. Now? McDaniel sees Walcott as a Seager clone in the making.

“Walcott has gone from a long shot shortstop to now looking like an average long-term defender at the position, as is sometimes the case with big, athletic infielders (like current Rangers shortstop Corey Seager),” he wrote.

He is still filling out physically since the Rangers signed him as their top international prospect in 2023. His rise has been meteoric by that standard, as he has 207 minor league games under his belt and was in the MLB Futures Game last year.

McDaniel sees him as a potential 40-home run player, something even Seager hasn’t done yet in his career. Seager has been consistent power with Texas, as he has three straight seasons of 30 or more home runs.

Walcott’s power is picking up. Last year he played for High-A Hickory and Double-A Frisco and slashed .265/.344/.452 with 11 home runs and 56 RBI. He was also named a South Atlantic League All-Star.

The Rangers started him at Frisco this season, with the hope that he could play his way to Triple-A Round Rock. So far, in 38 games, he’s slashed .238/.333/.404 with five home runs and 19 RBI.

He appears well on his way to being able to follow in Seager’s path at some point.