Evan

Carter

It was widely assumed that Carter was going to miss the rest of the season with his back injury, but this confirms it. The good news is that the 21-year-old is not expected to need surgery, and that he believes he’ll be ready to roll for spring training. Carter’s season was a massive disappointment due to lofty expectations that were earned from his run in 2022, but there’s lots to like about the outfielder in the long-term.

Carter has been on the shelf since late May recovering from a stress reaction in his back and remains completely shut down from baseball activities. It’s an unfortunate update for the former 21-year-old top prospect, who made a significant impact last year in his first taste of the big leagues.

Carter has been out since May 26, so this move doesn’t mean anything for him. That said, it’s currently unclear when he might have a chance of returning from his back injury. He’s not someone to count on at this point.

Not great. Carter is currently shut down from all baseball activities after not feeling well enough to head out on a minor league rehab assignment coming out of the All-Star break. The 21-year-old former top prospect has been out since late May recovering from a stress reaction in his back. There should be an update on his status in the coming days, but there’s now a non-zero possibility he might not make it back this season.

Fellow rehabbing slugger Josh Jung is set to begin a minor league rehab assignment at Double-A Frisco on Friday and Carter is believed to be about a week behind Jung in his recovery. The 21-year-old outfielder has been shelved since the end of May due to a back sprain.

The Rangers will presumably make a determination that that point whether Carter is ready for a minor league rehab assignment. The 21-year-old phenom has been out since late May recovering from a stress reaction in his back.

It’s typically the final hurdle to clear before a position player heads out for a minor league rehab assignment, so it wouldn’t be shocking to see Carter get into some rehab contests in the coming days. The 21-year-old former top prospect struggled out of the gate this season before hitting the injured list last month with a stress reaction in his back. He should be ready to return at some point in early August.

Carter resumes swinging a bat earlier this week and should be ready to face some actual live pitching in the coming days. The 21-year-old former top prospect landed on the injured list back in early June with a stress reaction in his back and was expected to miss at least one month. He’s going to need a minor league rehab assignment to get back up to speed, but it sounds like he could be back before the end of July, barring any setbacks.

Not great. Bochy added that Carter isn’t dealing with a stress fracture, which would’ve required a much lengthier absence, but he’s facing a lengthier absence than originally anticipated when he hit the injured list last week with a back sprain. The 21-year-old top prospect is likely going to be on the shelf until sometime after next month’s All-Star break, even in a best-case scenario. Fantasy managers in re-draft formats can probably move on, especially in shallow mixed leagues.

Carter will ostensibly swap places with fellow top prospect Wyatt Langford as he’ll get some extra time off in an effort to reset mentally after batting just .165 (15-for-91) with three homers and one steal over his last 30 contests. The 21-year-old top prospect hits the shelf in the midst of an 0-for-20 hitless streak at the dish dating back to May 10. It’s far too early to be concerned long-term with Carter, but this season has certainly been an unexpected speed bump following last year’s stellar late-season debut and playoff performance.