Davis Wendzel

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Davis McKee Wendzel

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Biographical Information[edit]

Infielder Davis Wendzel was the last player selected in the first round of the 2019 amateur draft, going 41st overall to the Texas Rangers as a Competitive Balance Round A pick. The pick had been obtained from the Milwaukee Brewers in a trade for P Alex Claudio. Wendzel came out of Baylor University where he had hit .367 in 36 games as a junior, with 19 doubles and 8 homers, his third straight season of batting over .300. It was his second time being drafted, as in the 2018 amateur draft, the Boston Red Sox had taken him in the 37th round.

After signing with the Rangers, he opened his pro career with 4 games for the AZL Rangers and 3 with the Spokane Indians in the Northwest League. He did well, going 6 for 19 with 8 runs scored, but these were his only professional at-bats until 2021, since, like all other minor leaguers, he was forced to sit out the 2020 season when the minor leagues were shut down by the Coronavirus pandemic. He was promoted aggressively to the Frisco Rough Riders of the Double-A Central to start 2021, but he was then slowed down by an hamate bone fracture which kept him off the field from late May to mid-August. After a brief rehabilitation assignment in the Arizona Complex League, he returned to Round Rock, then was promoted to the Round Rock Express of Triple-A West for the final two weeks of the season. His combined batting line in 63 games was .238/.346/.399 with 40 runs scored, 8 homers and 32 RBIs, the injury preventing him from putting up even more impressive numbers. He played both third base and shortstop, in addition to a smattering of games at second base and in the outfield, as the Rangers were still figuring out what would be his best position going forward.

More injuries followed in 2022, when he played 85 games for Round Rock, and another 6 on a rehabilitation assignment with the ACL Rangers. In 91 total games, he hit .201/.282/.387 with 17 homers and 52 RBIs, his batting average and OBP cratering at a time when he could have moved up to the Show. In 2023, he repeated at AAA, playing 124 games for Round Rock and improved to .236/.361/.477, with 30 homers and 70 RBIs. He was named a Rangers organizational All-Star, but by now the path forward was blocked in Arlington, with Josh Jung having an outstanding rookie season as the regular third baseman, and his two back-ups at the major league lever, Ezequiel Duran and Josh Smith both being capable of filling in for him when he was sidelined by an injury in August. And to make things even worse, he had competition on his own team at Round Rock, with Justin Foscue being another top draft pick who was performing well.

Wendzel went back to Round Rock once again to begin the 2024 and by then it looked like it would take a trade to give him a chance at the Show, but by April 9th, he was in the majors to make his major league debut, starting at third base against the Oakland Athletics. It had taken a pair of injuries to get him there, first a broken wrist by Jung, sustained on a hit-by-pitch, which led to Foscue's call-up to the Rangers, and then a strained oblique sustained by Foscue when he collected his first big league hit on April 7th. With Smith starting at shortstop in place of Corey Seager and Duran at first base because of yet another injury, this one to 1B Nathaniel Lowe, Wendzel was inserted in the starting line-up and went 0 for 3 in a 4-3 loss.

Related Sites[edit]

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