Texas Rangers outfielder Evan Carter was set to enjoy his first full season in the Majors in 2024. However, the 21-year-old is now likely to be sidelined for the rest of the regular season to allow more recovery time for a lower lumbar sprain.
Rangers general manager Chris Young announced that Carter needs to rest his back following consultations with a back specialist in California. Carter has been on the injured list since May 28.
“It continues to give him a little bit of trouble when he ramps up his hitting progression. We’ve seen multiple specialists in the past week and determined that Evan is going to need a more lengthy time period to rest his back without rotational activity. I’m not overly optimistic that we’re going to see Evan again in the regular season,” said Young, who also confirmed that surgery isn’t necessary.
“These types of injuries, based on what I understand from the experts that Evan has seen, are not a long-term concern,” Young explained. “We just simply have not given him enough time. We followed the doctor’s recommendations in terms of the current timeline, but bodies heal differently, and sometimes we don’t meet those timelines. In this case, we just didn’t give him enough time.”
Carter began ramping up his activity a few weeks ago and seemed ready to start a rehab assignment, but his back issue flared up again.
“We want to protect him. He’s a huge part of our future,” Young said. “He needs a little bit more extensive time to rest this and let it heal, at which point the doctors are very confident. He’s already on a very good core program and all the exercises and stretches that you would do to protect it.”
The primary issue remains his back’s reaction to extensive swinging.
“Swinging a bat violently with an extreme amount of force does put torque on a sensitive area, and we just haven’t given enough time to heal,” Young noted. “We’ve got to step back and give him the time that he deserves and that he needs and it’ll be fine moving forward.”
Manager Bruce Bochy sympathized with Carter’s situation, lamenting the rookie’s lost season and missed development opportunity since his breakout during the 2023 postseason.
“He was really excited because it looked like he was on his way, letting it go with the bat,” Bochy said. “He’s got to be frustrated with it becoming doubtful that he can help us this year. Is it a possibility? Yeah, but with where he’s at, I feel for the kid. As important as that, it’s a year of development. Just getting out here and playing, getting the reps, facing major league pitching. So that’s what’s made this difficult for all of us, him and us.”
