Evan

Carter

There’s little doubt the Rangers will go with an outfield of Langford, Brandon Nimmo and Evan Carter against righties (with Carter perhaps sitting against lefties), but the alignment is in question, what with both Langford and Nimmo being best suited for left. The Rangers might feel that Langford in center and Carter in right would be their best alignment, even though Carter would seem to be the stronger center fielder of the two.

It was already announced that Carter was going to miss the remainder of the season with his fractured wrist, so this move doesn’t come as a surprise. It was done as a procedural move to clear a spot for Dylan Moore on the team’s 40-man roster on Friday.

The dynamic 22-year-old outfielder suffered the injury when he was hit by a pitch during Thursday’s game against the Royals. He’ll unfortunately miss the remainder of the 2025 season. Carter finishes the year hitting .247/.336/.392 with five homers, 25 RBI and 14 stolen bases over 220 plate appearances.

It’s a brutal development for the Rangers, and fantasy managers, as Carter was in the midst of a strong season — when healthy. The 22-year-old former top prospect, who suffered the injury on Thursday when he was hit by a pitch, will likely miss the final five weeks of the season and finishes with a .728 OPS with five homers and 14 steals in 63 games. He’s shown flashes of immense fantasy potential over the last few years, but continues to be snake-bitten by injuries.

Carter remained in the game to run the bases for himself and swiped second base before being stranded there. He then singled and scored in the fifth inning before he was lifted for a defensive replacement in the eighth inning. He’ll likely head for precautionary X-rays to rule out any fractures. Look for the Rangers to have an update on his status as soon as more information becomes available.

Carter takes a seat with southpaw Eric Lauer drawing Saturday’s starting assignment for Toronto. He’ll likely continue riding the bench against left-handers over the final few weeks of the season. The 22-year-old former top prospect has gone 3-for-7 with an RBI in a pair of contests since returning from the injured list earlier this week after missing time with back spasms. It’ll be Wyatt Langford covering center field with Sam Haggerty drawing into the lineup.

Carter missed just-over the minimum 10-day stint while dealing with back spasms. He should be an everyday option — with the occasional day of rest, of course — now that he’s back. The question is if these back issues are going to linger in not just 2025, but beyond.

Carter will be eligible to return from the injured list next Tuesday, and it sounds like he wants to try for that date. The Rangers, though, might want him to go play a few games in the minors, since he wasn’t hitting much getting hurt. He’s batted just .174/.250/.290 since the beginning of July, lowering his OPS from .816 to .704.

The massive concern here for the Rangers — and fantasy managers — is Carter’s troubling history of back issues, which kept him on the shelf for most of last season. The 22-year-old is going to get some extra time off to rest and recover after experiencing back spasms earlier this week. There is no timetable for his return at this juncture, especially since back issues can be extremely complicated matters.

The big concern for the Rangers — and fantasy managers — is Carter’s history of back issues, which sidelined him for a large chunk of last season. While nothing is official yet, it sounds like he’ll miss at least a couple games this weekend and may ultimately require a stint on the injured list.