He’s the Rangers number-one prospect. For far too long that meant nothing. Or, to be more precisely, it meant the kiss of death. 

But the last guy—Josh Jung—turned out just fine, until he broke his thumb on a freak play. Here’s hoping this one has a similar impact.

Evan Carter is now a Ranger. Picked in the second round of the 2020 draft, the just turned twenty-one-year-old rocketed up the Rangers system. He seemed to be penciled in as the centerfielder of the future. But, now that Adolis Garcia is on the IL after crashing into the wall in Wednesday’s futility, Carter might be stationed in right field.

This will be his fourth level of baseball in 2023, having played three games in the Rookie League, ninety-seven at Double-A, and eight at Triple-A. His stay at Round Rock was brief but productive, hitting .353 with a whopping .436 on-base percentage. 

Rangers General Manager Chris Young praised Carter’s plate discipline, saying, “He has an elite approach, strike zone awareness and control and really fits the profile of a player that we think can have success at the Major League level.” 

He did, however, point out that this is a young kid with a learning curve ahead of him. 

But it seems the last three weeks the entire Rangers roster is undergoing a massive learning curve. 

Carter, who bats left and throws right, was the Rangers Minor League Player of the year for 2022. He’s being airdropped into a lineup that is gasping for air, on a team that is in a freefall, in a pennant race that is suddenly murky.

No pressure.

Welcome to Evan Carter. Maybe he’s that alarm the Rangers need to wake up.

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