Carter begins rehab assignment with Triple-A Round Rock

ARLINGTON -- The Rangers are one step closer to getting their lineup back to full strength.

Center fielder Evan Carter, who is on the 10-day injured list with a Grade 2 right quad strain, is scheduled to begin a rehab assignment on Friday with Triple-A Round Rock against the Reno Aces at Dell Diamond.

Carter is expected to bat leadoff and play center field for five innings in his first rehab game.

“He'll let us know when he's ready with how he's playing and how he's feeling,” said manager Bruce Bochy. “He's going to play five innings tonight, so we'll get him stretched out there in these next two or three days, and kind of see where we're at with him. When we think he's ready, we'll bring him back up.”

The 22-year-old has been on the injured list with a nagging quad issue since May 18. It was initially thought to be a simple rest solution, but subsequent scans showed it was worse than they initially expected.

“From my understanding, quads are really easy to play through, and you don't really know that there's anything seriously wrong until it tears in half,” Carter recalled. “Then, at that point, you’re missing two or three months, and that's not good. It's new for me. I feel like my entire baseball career has either been my back or shin splints. I've never had a soft tissue injury before, so this is a first for me.”

Since becoming one of baseball’s most exciting prospects in 2023, Carter has struggled with a nagging back injury that affected his swing for the last year. He opened this season with Round Rock as his struggles at the plate persisted throughout Spring Training (.419 OPS and 15 strikeouts in 42 plate appearances).

Carter hit .221/.333/.416 in 21 games for Round Rock this year, but each of his seven extra-base hits (three home runs, two triples, two doubles) came in his last 14 games before the callup on May 6. He had only hit .182/.270/.273 with one home run and three RBIs in 11 MLB games after getting called up from Triple-A.