Former Red Sox prospect on Rangers’ outfielder Evan Carter’s impressive postseason debut
Texas Rangers rookie outfielder Evan Carter has become a breakout star this postseason.
The 21-year-old rookie had only 23 big league games under his belt before the Rangers penciled him into their lineup for their playoff run.
Carter is good, real good. He’s currently ranked as MLB’s No. 8 overall prospect according to MLB Pipeline.
The talented rookie has shown off his power, hitting a homer in Game 2 of the AL Wild Card series against the Rays. Carter took Zach Eflin deep, 391 feet into the right field seats. His relaxed swing looks seamless at the dish.
His impressive playoff run is not going unnoticed. Former Red Sox minor league catcher Kole Cottam was on the To the Show We Go Podcast and talked about the stud outfielder.
“I have a buddy on the Rangers, Evan Carter he’s absolutely crushing it right now,” said Cottam. “I will say, he’s one of the best people in the world. He’s such a great kid, he works so hard and baseball is just something for him. He loves his family, loves the guys, baseball is just something he does and he’s freaking good at it.”
Cottam and Carter are friends and have worked out together in the offseason.
“He’s from this area and I’ve trained with him for a few years down here. He’s been down a bunch and lives an hour away. He comes on down and works out here in the offseason.”
This postseason, Carter is turning heads, hitting .429 (6-for14) with one homer, three RBIs, six walks and owning a 1.476 OPS. Among qualified playoff batters this postseason, Carter’s eye popping 1.476 OPS ranks third behind the Astros’ Yordan Alvarez.
Two of his three doubles came against the Rays, one off of ace Tyler Glasnow that he stroked into the right center-field gap. The other was in the same game off former Red Sox lefty Jake Diekman. Carter showed off his speed to pick up his double off the Rays’ southpaw.
His third two-bagger came during Game 1 of the ALDS against the Orioles. He smoked an 88 mph slider off Kyle Bradish into the right-field corner.
One thing fans should keep an eye this postseason with Carter is his approach and plate discipline. He’s collected more walks than hits, which is impressive for such a young hitter. The Rangers caused the fewest pitches of any team in baseball this past season, Carter is just seemingly fitting into the team’s offensive philosophy easily.
Carter is developing from one of the best prospects in baseball to a bonafide baseball superstar each at-bat during the playoffs. If you aren’t paying attention to the Rangers and Carter, you need to right now, because he looks like the real deal for Texas.
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