Examining Wyatt Sanford, a possible draft choice by the Texas Rangers

2024 MLB Draft Preview: Wyatt Sanford scouting report

The 2024 MLB Draft is less than a month away — the first round kicks off on July 14, 2024 — so its time to start offering capsule looks at players the Texas Rangers could select with their top picks. The Rangers’ first round pick is at #30, their second round pick is at #65, and their third round pick is at #103.

Leading up to draft day, we will be doing writeups of some of the players who could end up getting selected by the Rangers with one of their first three picks. I will note we haven’t really done this in the past couple of years, due both to the fact that the Rangers were picking at the top of the draft, meaning there were only a handful of players really in play with their first round pick, and the fact that they didn’t have their second and third round picks.

Today we are looking at Frisco prep shortstop Wyatt Sanford.

Wyatt Sanford is a 6’1”, 175-185 lb. lefthanded hitting shortstop from Independence High School in Frisco, Texas. Sanford is currently committed to Texas A&M University, and turns 19 in November. His father, Chance Sanford, spent nine years in pro ball, mostly in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization, and played 19 games in the majors in 1998-99.

Sanford is a contact hitter with a good bat speed whose biggest calling card offensively is that he is great at making contact on fastballs. Both MLB Pipeline and Baseball America praise his “swing decisions.” However, he has below-average raw power and seems unlikely to ever have much power, even once he develops.

Sanford gets high marks for his athleticism, and there seems to be no question that he will be able to stick at shortstop going forward. He has a good arm, with MLB Pipeline saying he could handle just about any position on the field defensively. Sanford also has above-average speed.

Baseball America’s top 500 list currently has Sanford at #42. MLB Pipeline has Sanford at #35 on their board. Keith Law has Sanford at #34 on his board. Kiley McDaniel has Sanford at #37 on his rankings. Fangraphs doesn’t have Sanford on their top 30 board.