Insane Evan Carter stat shows how valuable he is to Rangers despite struggles

The Texas Rangers are off to a good start, having won their first two series of the season. The Rangers had the benefit of kicking 2024 off on a high, debuting new (awesome) jerseys and caps commemorating the franchise's first World Series victory, as well as the 2023 team's championship rings.

They also called up No. 2 prospect Wyatt Langford, making them two-for-two on top prospects who have made it to the big leagues. Evan Carter was a massive highlight down the stretch and in the postseason; he batted .306/.413/.645 in the regular season and .300/.417/.500 in the postseason, and set the record for playoff doubles with nine.

This year, Carter's line might have fans a little worried, but just like any stat, there's a story behind the numbers.

His .000/.318/.000 line over five games makes it clear that he has yet to get a hit, but it obscures the fact that Carter is tied for second in the entire league in walks so far this season with six. He's also represented five of the Rangers' runs, walked in a run for an RBI, and stole a base.

Evan Carter has already walked six times for the Texas Rangers and scored five of their runs

Despite the lack of hitting, it's still a wild start for Carter, who has already equaled half of the walks he took in the majors in 2023 (he still had a .413 OBP by the end of the year). He was an absolute walk machine in the minors, taking almost as many free bases as he did strikeouts in 2022 and 2023 (and he walked more than he struck out in 2021). By the time he was promoted last year, he had a .410 OBP across all levels of the minors.

Sure, he needs to get the bat to the ball more, and his 0-4 for with no walk appearance on Tuesday could've contributed to his off-day on Wednesday, but in the words of Billy Beane-via-Brad Pitt, "He gets on base a lot. Do I care if it's a walk or a hit?"

Clearly, the rest of the Rangers lineup is equipped to get Carter back around to home plate most of the times he takes his walks. As soon as he can get hot and start hitting, opposing pitchers are going to have a real problem on their hands.