The Texas Rangers didn't add any hitting at the deadline. President of baseball operations Chris Young either chose to stand pat or couldn't find the deal he was looking for.

That means if the Rangers add any offense the rest of this season it will either come off the free agent market or it will come from their organization. Lately, there's been an attempting development at Double-A Frisco.

Top prospect Sebastian Walcott returned to the field last month after undergoing internal brace surgery on his right elbow. He’s been great in the minors with a slash of .333/.390/.627 with four home runs and 11 RBI. The 20-year-old is no longer a lanky kid. The shortstop used his rehab to put on muscle — and it’s showing at the plate.

With more that 1,000 minor league at-bats, the Rangers could be tempted to call up their former top international prospect and give him a shot at the Major League level to see if he can give their lineup a boost. Here is why the Rangers should avoid temptation.

Why Sebastian Walcott Needs to Stay in Minor Leagues

Walcott is off to a tremendous start of that there is no dispute. But his brilliance should be tempered by the fact that he has not taken a single at-bat at Triple-A Round Rock. Walcott ended last season at Frisco and when he resumed his career he went back to Frisco. The Rangers wanted him to get more at-bats where he was comfortable.

There should be nothing stopping the Rangers from promoting him to Round Rock in the next week or two. But there are two big reasons the Rangers need to keep him in the minor leagues.

The first is the current Major League roster. Walcott cannot play in the field because he's still recovering from elbow surgery. He can only be a designated hitter. As a right-handed hitter his best matchups will be against left-handed pitching, though he’s batting .300 or better against left-handers and right-handers this season. Texas already has a solid right-handed hitter who can DH against lefties in Justin Foscue.

Adding Walcott limits Rangers’ versatility and forces them to choose between certain players that already have set positions like designated hitter Joc Pederson and first baseman Jake Burger.

The second reason is recent history. As well-respected as Josh Jung and Wyatt Langford were when they hit the majors, like most rookies they struggled — and both go at-bats at Round Rock.

Jung had 602 minor league at-bats when the Rangers promoted him in 2022. He slashed .204/.235/.418 with five home runs and 14 RBI in 26 games. Jung played every day because Texas wasn’t chasing a playoff berth and the Rangers wanted him to develop. That helped him in 2023 when he was the starting third baseman on their World Series championship game.

Langford blew through the minor league system in 2023 and had just 161 minor-league at-bats before he made the 2024 opening day roster. By the end of April, he was slashing .238/.314/.314 with one home run and 11 RBI.        

Both were first-round picks. Both struggled in their first taste of the Majors. Nearly every hitting prospect struggles.

Perhaps Walcott is a unicorn and he’ll dissect Major League pitching immediately. While he has a tremendous body of work, history — both anecdotal and driven by the data from Jung and Langford — suggest it’s highly likely the Rangers would be giving a roster spot to a player limited to one spot in the lineup that will struggle.

As mediocre as this playoff race is, it isn't worth the Rangers starting his Major League clock to squeeze whatever they can out of him.