The Texas Rangers returned home after a 1-5 road trip and without one of their key sluggers in the lineup.

It’s possible he could be back as soon as this weekend against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Outfielder Wyatt Langford is eligible to return from the 10-day injured list on Saturday from a right oblique strain. On Tuesday, Rangers manager Bruce Bochy told reporters, including MLB.com, that Langford would swing a bat before the game with the Los Angeles Angels.

It sounds like a mundane step, but it’s a necessary one for Langford to be activated this weekend. The next step in situations like this is to hit a ball off a tee, followed by live batting practice.

Langford’s progress through those tasks — the schedule of which is to be announced — would like him up for a return to the lineup. Bochy didn’t commit to exactly when Langford would return, but he’s optimistic it could come against the defending World Series champions.

If the Rangers wanted Langford to get some rehab at-bats before he’s activated, he could go across the Metroplex and play for the Double-A Frisco RoughRiders, who are hosting Amarillo this week.

Langford left last Tuesday’s game in Chicago against the Cubs in the seventh inning. The injury came after Langford’s last plate appearance, which saw him strike out swinging.

Before he left the contest, he was in the middle of a great game, as he went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored. He blasted his fourth home run of the season, a solo shot, in that contest.

At the time, Bochy said that Langford “felt something” during that final at-bat. He got a scan of the side the day after, which is when the Rangers placed him on the IL.

Langford told reporters after that game that he felt the tightness was “very minor” and not like the oblique injury he dealt with during spring training.

Without Langford, the Rangers have started either Josh Smith or Kevin Pillar in left field.

Langford started the first 12 games of the season, and he slashed .244/.333/.561 with four home runs and six RBI.

He started slowly as a rookie in 2024 but finished slashing .253/.325/.415 with 16 home runs and 74 RBI. He finished seventh in American League rookie of the year voting. He’s started slowly this year two and in his first 10 games slashed .235/.325/.500 with three home runs and five RBI.

He was a polished hitter at Florida when the Rangers selected him No. 4 overall in the 2023 MLB draft and he played just 44 minor league games before he was called up to the Majors.

AUSTIN — The Texas Longhorns have a kicking competition on their hands this spring, something that’s likely to continue into the fall.

With the struggles that Bert Auburn had at the end of last season, Steve Sarkisian and the coaching staff clearly isn’t sold on him as the starting place kicker for 2025 and are giving Will Stone — who handled kickoff duties — a shot at proving himself.

“From a kicking standpoint, trying to find that right rhythm of consistency when you when you have a competition going on, the protection is as important as even just the kick,” Sarkisian said Monday when speaking to the media. “And so trying to work on that, and that’ll be a big emphasis of ours as we continue to move forward.”

Sarkisian added that the team still hasn’t “done enough” quite yet to come to a decision on if Auburn or Stone will be the starting place kicker. With Texas still having to complete spring practice along with summer workouts and fall camp, it could be awhile until Longhorn fans have an answer.

“We haven’t done enough. I think we’ll start to really ramp it up here Wednesday,” Sarkisian said. “We’ve done it, we’ve done some, but now we’ve got to really start to ramp this thing up, to get a real gage on what it looks like.”

Auburn, who is the program’s all-time leader in made field goals (66), has been Texas’ starting kicker the past three seasons. However, he lost the starting job ahead of the College Football Playoff Semifinal against Ohio State after missing two field goals in the CFP quarters against Arizona State. He finished the 2024 campaign 16 of 25 on field goals, with six of those misses coming in the final five games of the season.

The Longhorns didn’t attempt a field goal against the Buckeyes but Stone knocked in both extra points for Texas in the 28-14 loss at the Cotton Bowl while Auburn sat the bench.

Regardless of who wins the position battle, they’ll have a major spotlight to step into when Texas opens up the regular season on Aug. 30 against Ohio State in Columbus.

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DALLAS — President Donald Trump’s administration on Monday terminated a federal grant to help fund a long-sought high-speed rail line between Dallas and Houston — saying that if the embattled project moves forward, it will have to do so without federal help at this stage.

The U.S. Department of Transportation nixed a $63.9 million planning grant for the proposed Texas Central route under an agreement between the Federal Railroad Administration and Amtrak. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the two agencies “are in agreement that underwriting this project is a waste of taxpayer funds and a distraction from Amtrak’s core mission of improving its existing subpar services.”

“The Texas Central Railway project was proposed as a private venture,” Duffy said. “If the private sector believes this project is feasible, they should carry the pre-construction work forward, rather than relying on Amtrak and the American taxpayer to bail them out.”

Kleinheinz Capital Partners, the lead investor in Texas Central, said Monday’s announcement is “good news for the overall project.”

“We agree with Secretary Duffy that this project should be led by the private sector, and we will be proud to take it forward,” the company said in a statement. “This project is shovel-ready and will create significant new jobs and economic growth for Texas as part of President Trump’s efforts to boost the U.S. economy.”

The Texas Central project — first pitched in 2009 as a way to ferry travelers between the state’s two largest urban areas within 90 minutes — has long faced stiff resistance from landowners along the route and state lawmakers who have sought to kill the project.

Texas legislators have filed bills aimed at thwarting the rail line. Meanwhile, the Texas House Transportation Committee subpoenaed Texas Central representatives for information about the company’s finances among other matters — and are set to hear from the company on Thursday.

The project has struggled to obtain the land necessary to build the line as the estimated cost ballooned past $30 billion from an earlier $12 billion estimate. The U.S. Department of Transportation on Monday put that cost north of $40 billion.

Texas Central had shown signs of life in recent years when Amtrak revived the project following a leadership exodus.

The company bought its Japanese investors out of the project in January, Andy Jent, a Texas Central representative, told state lawmakers in March. Fort Worth investor John Kleinheinz is now the lead investor in the project, Jent said. Texas Central has acquired about 25% of the parcels needed to build the route, he said.

Peter LeCody, who heads the organization Texas Rail Advocates, was optimistic that the project would move forward despite the lost federal funds.

“Can the private sector do this? Probably,” LeCody said. “Will it need help from any other source? Maybe.”

Disclosure: Texas Central has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

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