SURPRISE, Ariz. -- Evan Carter burst onto the national baseball scene during the 2023 postseason when the then-21-year-old hit .300 with a .917 OPS while playing in all 17 games en route to the World Series.
But even though Carter made his mark on the World Series-winning team, one thing stood out: He couldn't hit lefties. At the time of his call-up on Sept. 8, 2023, the outfielder was slashing .242/.349/.253 against left-handed pitching in the Minors.
A year and a half later, Carter slashes .081/.150/.081 with three total hits against lefties in the big leagues. It¡¯s not shocking when you think about it.
Carter was selected out of a small town called Elizabethton, Tenn., in the 2020 MLB Draft, foregoing a commitment to Duke. He missed all but 32 games of his debut season in ¡®21 with a back injury. He then breezed through the upper levels of the Minors to make his big league debut just over two years after getting drafted.
He quite simply has never had the chance to face high-level left-handers on a consistent basis.
¡°I understand the huge discrepancy,¡± Carter said of his struggles against lefties. ¡°But at the end of the day, if you're a good lefty in the Minors, you're in the big leagues like that [snaps]. The sample size it's just not there. I know that I'm gonna get better at it. I'm just not gonna accept the fact that I'm not gonna get better at it. I'm not a naive person. I understand everything is out there. I¡¯m also a determined person, I have conviction in myself.¡±
Where does that leave the Rangers in 2025?
Leody Taveras, the Rangers' starter in center field since 2022, is fine but not much better at hitting lefties, with a .231/.291/.320 career slash line. Carter is coming off a sophomore season in which a back injury limited his little time on the field, and he struggled against both lefties and righties when on it.
With a week left until Opening Day, one of the two will slot into center field between left fielder Wyatt Langford and right fielder Adolis Garc¨ªa. However, manager Bruce Bochy said that whoever the fourth outfielder is will get plenty of playing time throughout the season.
¡°Wherever I fit in at the end of the day, you got to hit,¡± Carter said. ¡°If I'm hitting, I'll fit in somewhere.¡±
Neither Carter nor Taveras has exactly torn the cover off the ball throughout Cactus League play. This spring, Carter has a slash line of .000./000/.000 with five strikeouts in seven at-bats against lefties. Taveras is slashing .154/.214/.154 in 13 at-bats against lefties.
But Bochy has noted that both have been squaring the ball up well the last few weeks, and Carter has looked more comfortable facing pitchers from both sides as the staff continues to manage his back injury.
¡°Sometimes you get too focused on him hitting lefties,¡± Bochy said of Carter. ¡°These lefties in the Major Leagues, they're tough to hit. I'm not as concerned about that as a lot of people are. I'd rather him just do his thing against righties, and we'll get a right-handed bat in there against lefties. Now, eventually hopefully it happens, and now you're not a platoon guy, but that's something that¡¯s hard to develop in the Major Leagues when you're trying to win.¡±
Carter has said repeatedly he hasn¡¯t been allowed to perform against lefties at this level. It makes sense. When Carter was healthy for the first two months in 2024, the Rangers were contending. They were atop the division and couldn¡¯t give away at-bats if they didn¡¯t have to.
By the time the Rangers had fallen out of contention in September, Carter had been shut down as the back injury continued to plague him.
¡°I don't know how many starts that I got last year against lefties,¡± Carter said. ¡°The first one was against Justin Steele, and then we played [2024 Cy Young Award winner Tarik] Skubal. That was the sample size. I felt terrible last year [health wise]. What exactly am I supposed to do about that? I'm swinging a freaking lead pipe up there when I'm trying to hit against Skubal.
¡°At the end of the day, I'm confident. I know everybody else's stats say a certain thing. It is what it is. I'm not gonna sit here and tell you that I'm just as good at hitting lefties as I am righties because obviously I'm not. It's a goal of mine. I'm a hard worker. That¡¯s what I do know.¡±