Texas Rangers Rookies Josh Jung, Evan Carter Each Continue Historic Postseason Tears

A couple of young sluggers lifted the Texas Rangers to victory in historic fashion on Sunday.

Rookies Josh Jung and Evan Carter once again strung together strong performances at the plate in the Rangers' Game 2 win over the Baltimore Orioles. Texas has yet to lose in the playoffs this year, and Jung and Carter have each played a major part in that.

Carter went 1-for-4 with a walk Sunday, which might actually be his worst playoff performance to date.

Through four playoff appearances, Carter has gotten aboard 12 times. That is tied for the third-most occurrences in any player's first four career postseason games, according to MLB.com's Sarah Langs.

The only players who reached base safely more often in that little time were Edgar Martinez and Frank Thomas, both of whom are now in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Langs also reported that Carter is the second-youngest player in postseason history to reach base safely 12-plus times in a four-game span, trailing only Freddie Lindstrom – another Hall of Famer – in 1924. The 21-year-old is the youngest to do so in his first four playoff appearances.

Evan Carter has now reached base safely 12 times in his first 4 career postseason games

that’s tied for the 3rd-most in a player’s 1st 4 career postseason games, behind only:

Edgar Martinez: 15
Frank Thomas: 14
— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) October 8, 2023

at 21 years & 40 days old, Evan Carter is the 2nd-youngest player in postseason history to reach base safely 12+ times in a 4-game span, older than only:

1924 Freddie Lindstrom: 18 y, 319 d

he’s the youngest to reach 12+ times in his FIRST 4 postseason games
— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) October 8, 2023

Carter is still just a month removed from his MLB debut. The No. 1 prospect in the Rangers' farm system and the No. 8 prospect in all of baseball bumped veteran Travis Jankowski out of the starting lineup when he got called up in September.

Jung, meanwhile, made his big league debut at the tail end of 2022. He was Texas' Opening Day third baseman in 2023, and he was on track to win AL Rookie of the Year before an injury knocked him off pace in early August.

At 25 years old, Jung took a little longer to reach the majors compared to Carter. That, combined with the Rangers' six-year playoff drought entering this season, meant that Jung is just four games into his postseason career as well.

Jung went 2-for-4 with a double, a walk and two runs Sunday. He now has five extra-base hits in his first four career playoff appearances.

Per Langs, that is tied for the most all-time by a rookie through four career postseason games. Houston Astros shortstop Jeremy Peña tied the record in 2022, which had previously been set by New York Yankees outfielder Charlie Keller all the way back in 1939.

Josh Jung has 5 XBH in his first 4 career postseason games, tied for most by a rookie in 1st 4 career PS games, with 2022 Jeremy Peña and 1939 Charlie Keller
— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) October 8, 2023

Game 3 of the ALDS is scheduled to get underway at 8:03 p.m. ET on Tuesday.

As has been the case in all four of the Rangers' postseason outings thus far, Jung and Carter are expected to remain in the starting lineup.

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