Bruce Bochy to Rangers Prospect Evan Carter: 'Soak It In'
To most scouting services, outfielder Evan Carter is the Texas Rangers’ No. 1 overall prospect. But there’s little path for him to reach the Major League club this season.
The Rangers invited Carter to Major League Spring Training as a non-roster player as an opportunity for him to get a taste of what it’s like to be around Big League players and coaches.
Rangers manager Bruce Bochy doesn’t want Carter focused on impressing anyone. He wants him focused on the experience.
“This is going to be a great experience for him,” Bochy said Monday, the first day position players worked out in Surprise. “I mean, we think a lot of the kid obviously, and for him to kind of have an idea of what it's like up here, when you're talking about a young kid it's going to be very valuable.”
Carter was the Rangers’ second-round pick in 2020. He played just 32 games in 2021, but he built on those numbers in 2022.
Overall, he batted .295/.397/.489/.886 in 106 games (117-for-397), with 86 runs, 21 doubles, 10 triples, 12 home runs and 73 RBI. Carter, who also played at High Class-A Hickory, was named Baseball America’s Rangers Prospect of the Year for 2022.
With Frisco, he batted .429/.536/.714/1.250 with a home runs and six RBI in seven games.
Carter will likely end up back at Frisco to start 2023, though he could certainly play his way into a promotion to Triple-A Round Rock by the end of Spring Training. But most services see Carter as a player that could make his Major League debut in 2024.
He was at the top of both the ESPN.com and the MLB.com Top 100 prospects lists for the Rangers. ESPN called him an “on-base machine with plus speed” and has one of the lowest chase rates in minor-league baseball.
Spring Training also provides a chance for a player like Carter to get mentorship from Major Leaguers. The Rangers have a relatively young outfield, aside from new acquisition Robbie Grossman.
Adolis García is the most veteran everyday outfielder returning from last year’s team. But Bochy said mentorship didn’t have to come from an outfielder specifically.
“You know it doesn't necessarily have to be an outfielder,” Bochy said. “I mean you're talking about two really great guys up the middle (Corey Seager and Marcus Semien) with experience, along with Nathaniel Lowe. Even experienced pitchers can help."
The same goes for other non-roster invitees like pitcher Kumar Rocker, who has only pitched for the Rangers in the Arizona Fall League.
They’ll get plenty of reps in Spring Training games and plenty of chances to pick the brains of their veterans teammates.
Bochy wants Carter and others to get as much out of the experience as possible. The hope is that they’ll be playing with the Rangers one day.
“You need to soak it in and take advantage of this and he sounds like the kind of kid that’s going to do that,” Bochy said.
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