Rangers Boss Says Evan Carter Must Earn At-Bats Against Left-Handed Pitching

The injuries have held back Texas Rangers center fielder Evan Carter since the start of the 2024 season. But it’s not the only thing that’s held him back.

The left-handed hitting outfielder has the kind of potential that teams crave. He can hit for power, has speed on the basepaths and in the outfield and has a Gold Glove-caliber glove. But he has trouble hitting left-handed pitching. Significant trouble. To this point in his career, it’s limited him to a platoon situation in the outfield.

New Rangers manager Skip Schumaker wants that to change. But he says Carter must earn it.

“I think he understands that and he’s out to prove that he can play against lefties,” Schumaker said at the MLB winter meetings in video gathered by DLLS Rangers. “But you have to give him a little bit of an opportunity to produce.”

Evan Carter’s Troubles Against Left-Handers

What are Skip Schumaker’s plans for Evan Carter in 2026? pic.twitter.com/Y0U60cboM4
— DLLS Rangers (@DLLS_Rangers) December 8, 2025

Carter’s splits against right-handed and left-handed pitching were stark. Against right-handers, he had a solid year, with a slash of .269/.349/.433 with five home runs and 24 RBI in 171 at-bats. But, against left-handers he only took 23 at-bats and his slash was an awful .087/.250/.087 with one RBI. That’s been the trend throughout Carter’s career.

Carter missed the latter stages of the season after he fractured his wrist. Per general manager Ross Fenstermaker, Carter is progressing well and is expected to be a full-go at spring training. As he begins to ramp up for spring training, the Rangers will be looking for the young outfielder to try and solve this split problem or at least bridge some of the gap. He has a good sounding board in Brandon Nimmo.

Nimmo is “platoon-proof,” which was part of the appeal for Texas to trade for him and give up veteran second baseman Marcus Semien. His slash against left-handers and right-handers was nearly identical in a season in which he slashed .262/.324/.436. Schumaker indicated that Nimmo is one of those elite left-handed hitters that can hit lefties and righties equally well. But he didn’t get there overnight.

“Brandon is a very good example,” Schumaker said. “He has been really good against lefties for the last few years because he's worked on it, he's had runway and he's hit them at a high clip, [with] on-base and slug, everything else. So, I think that's where Evan wants to get to. But at the end of the day, it's going to be up to him if he can do it or not.”

Carter will get plenty of runway to show he can hit left-handers better in spring training. It will determine just how much playing time he shares with Sam Haggerty, a switch-hitting center fielder who batted .318 against left-handers in 2025 but just .182 against right-handers. He’s back on a one-year contract.

Whatever happens, Carter will have to earn it. The Rangers are hoping 2026 is the year he shows the promise that made him one of their best prospects just a couple of years ago.