Are the Rangers nearing a breaking point as Evan Carter continues to struggle?

He was just a 20-year-old kid from Elizabethton, Tennessee, when he burst onto the scene for the Texas Rangers on September 8, 2023, against the then-Oakland Athletics.

Evan Carter, the "aw shucks" outfielder with a silky smooth left-handed swing, made an immediate statement to the Rangers organization and fanbase that he was going to be something special and a cornerstone of the franchise for the next 15 years.

Almost three full years later, the Rangers and Chris Young have to be asking themselves if Carter will ever hit enough to be an everyday player at the major league level.

Carter has been mired in a downward spiral because of injuries and inconsistency

Since his amazing two-month stretch to end 2023, when he hit .306 and registered a 1.058 OPS in 62 at-bats, before continuing his hot streak into a World Series-winning postseason run, Carter hasn't been able to come close to that level of production at the plate.

Some of that is due to the myriad of injuries that the 6-foot-2-inch, 190-pound speedster has suffered, including chronic back issues, which have plagued him the last two seasons. He also suffered a right wrist fracture in August 2025 that ended his season.

Carter is as healthy as he has been in the last three years to start this season and the results have been less than desirable. In fact, they have been downright atrocious.

He is hitting just .170 in 100 at-bats with a slugging percentage of .300 and a .588 OPS. The only reason that his OPS is even close to .600 is because of his keen eye at the plate, which has allowed him to draw 16 walks.

Carter plays a plus centerfield, but he has to hit more to stay in the lineup

With his tremendous speed and ability to read balls off the bat, Carter can take angles to balls hit in either gap and cover an enormous amount of ground. The highlight of his season was a dynamic home run-robbing catch against O'Neil Cruz and the Pirates.

Skip Schumaker, the Rangers' ownership and the fanbase desperately want to see Carter turn it around offensively. He is a homegrown product who was seen as the golden child after his early success in the highest-leverage situations. It was truly a baptism by fire, and he excelled.

Unfortunately, over the last two-plus years since 2024, he has only been hitting .210 (92-for-434), and he doesn't appear to be making the necessary adjustments with his swing to improve or hit left-handed pitching.

It might be time to consider sitting Carter, or demoting him and calling up a guy like Cam Cauley, who nearly made the big-league squad out of spring training. The 23-year-old can play outfield and would almost certainly fare better as a hitter than Carter, who is now hitless in his last 22 at-bats.

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