Florida Gators outfielder Wyatt Langford, No. 3 MLB draft prospect, expected to miss weeks after surgery

Wyatt Langford, a Florida Gators outfielder who is considered one of the top prospects in the upcoming Major League Baseball amateur draft, will miss the game after suffering an undisclosed injury on Friday night that required surgery. according to Jacob Rudner of 247 Sports. Rudner added that Langford is in good spirits and is expected to make a full recovery.

“Doctors examined and treated him last night,” Florida Flappers head coach Kevin O’Sullivan told Rudner. “It will take him a little while to get back.”

Langford, 21, came out Friday hitting .431/.557/.931 with six home runs and six more walks (14) than strikeouts in 16 contests. It was ranked #3 on CBS Sports in the spring by CBS Sports. Here’s what we wrote as part of our pre-season draft rankings:

Since 1990, the Gators have had five players selected in the top 10. They should add at least one more to that number in July. Langford is the complete offensive package. He commands the zone; he confidently hits the ball; and he makes contact with an above-average clip (his strike-to-exit ratio in the SEC game was 1.28). Scouts are predicting Langford to be at least a plus hitter relative to his batting average and his scoring, and if chops on base were considered a tool, he too would be a plus. Defensively, he played left field last year out of respect for a pair of top 70 picks in Sterlin Thompson (now from the Rockies) and Jad Fabian (Orioles). One experienced estimator calculated that Langford had a chance to flip a coin to make midfield his own for a long time; if said coin falls in the wrong direction, he has a right hand. Langford will almost certainly be in the top five, and it shouldn’t surprise anyone if he finds himself in the running for the top pick, depending on financial requirements and how the Pirates want to split their bonus pool.

The Gators, 14-3 of the season, will play their first series of the season against SEC rivals on Thursday when they start a three-game set against Alabama.