Evan Carter, a promising young outfielder for the Texas Rangers, is battling chronic back issues that hampered his performance in recent seasons. Despite this, he remains determined to regain his 2023 form and secure the center field position. The Rangers are cautiously optimistic about Carter's health and are focused on managing his condition proactively.
Last season the talk about Carter was as a Rookie of the Year candidate. This year it’s about managing chronic back issues. Texas Rangers outfielder Evan Carter laughs with outfielder Adolis García and infielder Josh Smith during a spring training workout at the team's training facility on Monday, Feb.
17, 2025, in Surprise, Ariz.. He’d like to let you know he’s swinging fine right now. He’s ready to regain his 2023 form. He’s ready to win the center field job.. And at the moment, he’s a career slasher of .085/.173/.106/.279 against lefties. So, you get the point. The back: Not his favorite subject.since it dramatically shortened two of his last three seasons. If it’s OK, he’d pretty much like to leave it at that. If you want to Google conditions associated with chronic lower back inflammation as we did, be Carter’s guest. Just don’t expect him to confirm whatever WebMD may suggest. “I kind of want to keep it personal,” Carter said when asked Monday exactly what condition he was ultimately diagnosed with last year. “I don’t feel like it’s the best for everybody to really put it out there and know exactly what’s going on. It’s personal to me and we’re going to keep it that way. I can’t change it. It’s a part of me now, but we’ve got a plan. There are treatments for it and I feel great right now.”Carter did add that after a “lot of trial and error,” he was able to get a more definitive diagnosis and plan from Dallas spine specialist Dr. Drew Dossett. He said that for a person who doesn’t put as much stress on their back as a baseball player, the condition should “go into remission,” eventually, but he feels confident that it will be managed well.He meant it all in a way to be reassuring about his availability this season and onward. Because, look, a healthy Carter in center field, and potentially atop the Rangers lineup makes this a much more dynamic team. Still, it’s a little bit of a mystery.“You have to keep a watchful eye on him and that’s what we’ll do,” Bochy said. “He doesn’t want that right now. He wants to go out and do everything the rest of the guys are doing. But we will need communication from him. Right now, he says he’s good to go. And he doesn’t really like talking about it because he doesn’t want that to be the focus. I’d say the level of concern right now is small. But I’d be naïve to say you can’t have a little concern with what he had to go through last year.“We’re pretty confident that’s behind him. I can’t tell you whether it’s going to flare up or not. That’s why we’re going to need him to let us know if he feels anything so we don’t let it get to that point.”and he was being touted as a Rookie of the Year in 2024. That seems so long ago. Now we are talking about proactively managing chronic conditions. It means the Rangers are probably going to have to plan for Carter to have fairly regular rest. In theory, at least, there’s a relatively easy way to do that: Sit Carter when the Rangers face tough lefties. In reality, it’s not so easy. Nobody wants to reduce a 22-year-old with Carter’s plate discipline to a platoon role.In the minors, Carter didn’t hit lefties, but his plate discipline made him an on-base threat. In 2023, before his callup, he had a more than adequate .349 OBP against lefties. “It’s obviously a great time to get better,” Carter said. “I’m not going to sit here and tell you I’m just as good at hitting lefties as I am righties, because obviously I’m not, but it’s a goal of mine, and I’m a hard worker, and at the end of the day, I’m going to figure it out. If I go out and have an incredible year against righties and have a .350 OBP against lefties without a homer, is anybody going to be upset?”But Carter’s health has to take priority over his splits. Though it sounds like sitting him against lefties is a simple solution, the Rangers have an additional complication there. Yes, there is another capable center fielder on the roster in incumbent Leody Taveras. But while Carter has raised some questions about his ability to hit lefties, the switch-hitting Taveras seems to already have answered that he can’t.Taveras has a .612 OPS against lefties for 453 plate appearances in his career. Among guys with at least 400 plate appearances from the right side against lefties since 2020, Taveras ranks 162nd. Of 164. By the second half of last season, even with Carter on the IL, the Rangers were sitting Taveras against lefties. “He’s a tremendous athlete and a hungry player, trying to do all he can to get better,” Bochy said. “The talent is there. I know he has a lot of at-bats and I know I said this last year, but I think it’s time for him to take it to another level.” For the record, Bochy said center field would be a “competitive” situation this spring. But Taveras was already platooning without Carter on the active roster, is four years older and the sample size suggests less margin of error. Taveras spent the offseason in Arlington working out with Carter and the rest of the local Rangers trying to address the lefty issue. It may, however, be too late to create more opportunities. The job is Evan Carter’s regardless of how he hits lefties. So long as he’s healthy. That’s a far bigger issue and a bit of a mystery.Joc Pederson sidelined at Texas Rangers camp with fluEvan has covered the Rangers since 1997. He has twice been named one of the top 10 beat writers in the country by the AP Sports Editors. His passions outside of covering baseball are his wife, Gina, his two step kids, two crazy dogs & barbecue. Let's not discuss the cat. Evan graduated from Georgia State University, but oddly is a Georgia fan.
EVAN CARTER TEXAS RANGERS BACK ISSUES HEALTH CENTER FIELD LEODY TAVERAS
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