Latest brutal Evan Carter injury update from Rangers was very on-brand for 2024

It feels like the Texas Rangers get some sort of bad injury news every single day this season. Obviously that is a bit of an exaggeration, but not as much as you would think as Texas has had so many injuries and rehab setbacks that it is a wonder they have been able to field a competitive team at all. In the case of Evan Carter, he is one of the latest Rangers to get bitten by the injury bug.

Carter was placed on the injured list at the end of May with what was described as a lower back injury. Given that he had been struggling so much, many thought that it was a minor issue that allowed the Rangers to give him a bit of a breather while reinstating Wyatt Langford from the IL.

However, Carter's injury appears to be much worse than that. Before Tuesday's game against the Tigers, manager Bruce Bochy revealed Carter is dealing with a stress reaction in his lower back and the team is expecting Carter to be out for at least a month, if not more than that.

Texas Rangers News: Evan Carter expected to be out for longer than expected with back injury

Given how good Carter was after the Rangers called him up last year and how high the expectations were of him coming into 2024, this is upsetting. While Carter had been struggling with a .188 batting average and .633 OPS this season, a big part of Texas' formula to turn their season around involved Carter figuring things out, and this injury is obviously a huge setback to those plans.

Fortunately, the Rangers did at least sprinkle in some good injury news along with the update on Carter. Bochy also shared that Max Scherzer, Jon Gray, and Tyler Mahle are all progressing through their respective rehabs and are all throwing to varying degrees. While we don't have exact timetables for their returns, things are at least looking up for the pitching staff when it comes to injuries.

It also doesn't hurt that the Rangers do have some depth in the outfield at the moment, especially now that Langford is back. However, everyone probably agrees that a healthy and productive Carter is still the best option for the team, so hopefully his recovery goes well even if it is going to take longer than initially thought.

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