0

Sebastian emerges as Rangers’ top prospect

Sebastian Walcott in action.

Sebastian Walcott in action.

By BRENT STUBBS

Chief Sports Editor

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

After completing just one year in the minor league with the Texas Rangers, Bahamian Sebastian Walcott has emerged as their top prospect going into the Major League Baseball Spring Training Camp.

On Monday, the Rangers announced that Walcott, who signed a $3.2 million contract last year, has been invited to the spring training camp in Surprise, Arizona, with a chance to workout with the major league players for a chance to earn a spot on their opening day roster.

“I’m pretty excited. I’ve been working very hard during this offseason,” Walcott said in an exclusive interview with The Tribune today.  “I’m just going to continue working hard and hopefully I can transgress to the Major League.”

It’s every player’s dream growing up to get to the MLB, but scouting reports say Walcott, who started out at the Junior Baseball League of Nassau in 2011, has all the tools to become the ninth Bahamian to achieve that goal. 

If he does, he would join Jasrado ‘Jazz’ Chisholm, who is now entering his second season with the New York Yankees after being traded from the Miami Marlins where he played since making his major league breakthrough in 2020.

According to the reports, the 6-feet, 4-inches right-handed Walcott has exceptional bat speed and produces elite exit velocities for an 18-year-old, and some evaluators slap top-of-the-scale grades on his raw power.

As a shortstop who made the South Atlantic League all-star in 2024, Walcott topped the High-A circuit in triples (nine), extra-base hits (50) and total bases (192) while batting .261/.342/.443 as its youngest regular, then dominated during a five-game cameo at Double-A.

“I think it’s just a dedication to my hard work on the field and just the success that I’ve been having with baseball,” he stated.

“I’m just going to continue to work hard and just keep on moving up the ladder, hopefully not only becoming the number one shortstop, but I want to continue working hard on the field so that I can accomplish that feat.”

In addition to being the top prospect in the Rangers organization, he is No.4 on the MBL list of shortstops coming into spring training and is No.17 on the list of all prospects combined. 

“It’s a proud moment for us coming from the small Bahamas doing big things. There’s a lot of pride there,” said Walcott’s father Jeff Walcott. “He understands the responsibility that comes along with that.”

As he continues to work on his game, Walcott said he wants to continue to build his strength and mobility.

“Those are the main things you have to concentrate on when you’re playing over 100 games, close to 162 games, your body could wear out,” he pointed out.

“So, you just have to continue to build your strength and develop your mobility so your body can recuperate and endure the long season ahead of you.”

Although there was a short break after his debut in the minor league, Walcott said he was eager to get back to work this month so that he can get locked into what is ahead of him.

“At the beginning of this season, I just want to take it easy because I just finished a season,” said Walcott, who got the opportunity to spend some time at home during the Christmas break with his family and friends.

“Mentally and physically, I wanted to relay, but now that the season is coming up, I have to get ready because there’s a lot of good things in store for me, so I have to be ready.”

Playing in his first season was pretty good, according to Walcott, but now that he got it under his belt, he has to contend with the challenge of playing against competitors who are a little older than him.

“I’ve been playing against older guys just about all of my life, so I think being able to do that and how the Rangers that I am ready for the older competition,” he stressed.

“I want them to see that and to gain their trust in allowing me to play against these guys. Hopefully they’ll have the confidence to allow me to play with them.”

If there’s anything he needs to work on a little more, Walcott admitted that it would be his defense. He’s going that and more in his off season training in Miami Gardens under the watchful eyes of his agent Scott Boras.

“I wouldn’t say I had a clean year defensively, but I’ve been working on my footwork and my defense and making sure that my throws are accurate and consistent. No one is going to be perfect, but when it comes to defense, I want to limit the errors as much as possible.”

Sometime in February, exact date not confirmed yet as position players report after the pitchers and catchers, Walcott will be heading to the MLB training camp in Arizona.  

“Hopefully I can learn something from them and apply it to my game and use this during the whole season,” said Walcott, who intends to be there as he celebrates his 19th birthday on Match 14th. 

“I feel I have the ability to play at the Major League level.”

His proud father Jeff Walcott, who was an outstanding basketball player and who served as president of JBLN from 2018-2024, said it’s an exciting time for them as a family.

“We’ve always had the confidence that he could compete at a certain level, but my wife, YaEl, and I got to see it first hand having traveled to watch him play last year, along with our older son, Seth,” Jeff recalled of the journey.

“We had an opportunity to witness it first hand and we were very happy to see from a mental standpoint to see how he blended in and became a part of the older guys.”

From the time he coached his son as a little leaguer on teams that went to Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Aruba, Antigua and the United States of America, Jeff said it’s even more gratifying to watch as Sebastian play against guys who were an average age of 22 years old in the minor league. 

Now Jeff said he would like nothing better than to enjoy the satisfaction of watching Sebastian attain the ultimate goal of playing in the Major League.

“The door is close. We can see the Major League door,” he insisted. “It’s a lot of things that have to go right, but we feel that the projectury that he is on now, we feel the door will open for him.

“With God’s help, he stays healthy and all of the rest of it, we feet he can make. I always tell him that the most valuable player is the player who is available. So he just has to keep his body healthy and he can get there.”

Hopefully he will be an inspiration for his older brother, Seth, a pitcher in his junior year at Nova Southeastern University. Now in rehab after suffering an injury last year, Seth is contemplating playing elsewhere in the fall.

Sebastian,  who enjoy playing video games and like to worship at his home church at St Anne’s Anglican Church in Fox Hill, made tremendous strides at the age of 16 when he signed his professional contract.

He was attending K12 Private Online School based in Virginia, graduating in January 2024. Now knocking on the door of MLB in just one year of playing pro baseball.

Comments

Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.

Sign in to comment