Texas Rangers Rookie Evan Carter Eager To 'Prove It To You All' Against Lefties
SURPRISE, Ariz. — Texas Rangers rookie Evan Carter is the kid you think he is.
He's soft-spoken, friendly, and unassuming. But he's also a professional athlete and most of them have an intense competitive edge, even if it's not front and center.
Carter's competitive spirit, however, made a brief appearance Saturday morning after he arrived at the Rangers spring training complex for his second big league camp.
The topic was left-handed pitching, and Carter was asked whether he viewed it as an area of improvement over the winter.
In a word? No.
Carter, 21, was often on the bench when the Rangers faced a left-hander as manager Bruce Bochy preferred to use veteran Robbie Grossman in Carter's brief regular-season stint and in 17 postseason games. It was the first time in his life that he was benched because a lefty was on the mound.
"I've never been sat against lefties," he said. "Good lefties in the minors don't exist. They're all in the big leagues. So it's like, how do I take this? Everybody around me is saying I can't do it. How do I respond to this? In my head, I know I can do it. So it's just about proving to you all that I can do it."
Carter believes he never had a chance to show he could handle left-handed pitching because he only faced them 11 times in the regular season. He was 0 for 10 with a walk and six strikeouts. He batted .365 with a .469 on-base percentage in 64 plate appearances against right-handers.
"I felt good in the box; I really did. It's just one of those things that I hope to get consistent at-bats against [left-handers] this year," he said. "I think the consistency and seeing them every day is just going to make me better against them. So I'm really excited to get to prove to you all what I can do that this year."
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