Rangers GM Chris Young stated earlier this week that Evan Carter’s recurring back problems would likely end his 2024 season, and Carter confirmed as much when speaking with Shawn McFarland of the Dallas Morning News (X link) and other reporters today. Carter said he doesn’t think surgery will be required to address the lumbar strain in his back, and he should have a normal offseason and a regular path to the start of Spring Training once he begins swinging in 9-10 weeks.
Carter’s official rookie season will now end with 45 games played, and a .188/.272/.361 slash line over 162 plate appearances. It was a tough follow-up to Carter’s incredible run in 2023 after his late-season MLB debut, but hopefully a full offseason of rest and recovery can help him move past the back problems that ruined his year.
More from around the AL West…
- The Angels intend to activate Anthony Rendon on Tuesday, so the lower-back inflammation that sidelined Rendon will result in just a minimal stint on the 10-day injured list. Rendon already missed around two and a half months earlier this season due to a hamstring strain, so the veteran third baseman has clocked just 33 games this season. Hitting only .227/.289/.273 over 142 PA, Rendon has plenty of time to post more respectable numbers the rest of the way, but 2024 is looking like another lost year for Rendon in the fifth season of his seven-year, $245MM deal with the Halos. Rendon has hit only .245/.349/.380 over his 999 PA in an Angels uniform, and a variety of injuries have limited him to 233 games.
- Jacob Wilson’s first Major League game on July 19 was cut short by a hamstring strain, and reporter Jessica Kleinschmidt writes (via X) that the Athletics don’t yet have a concrete timeline on when Wilson might be able to return to action. That said, the shortstop has been taking part in baseball activities and has ramped up his running drills, so Wilson looks to be making progress. The sixth overall pick of the 2023 draft, Wilson earned the quick call-up to the Show due to a huge .438/.475/.687 slash line in 200 PA at three different minor league levels this season. Returning in relatively short order and getting some more exposure against big league pitching would further help Wilson establish himself as a cornerstone of the Athletics’ future.
- The Astros didn’t add any first base help at the trade deadline, and in fact subtracted from their depth by moving Joey Loperfido to the Blue Jays as part of the Yusei Kikuchi trade package. In an appearance on the Astros’ pregame radio show today, GM Dana Brown said that the club could continue to look within to bolster their first base ranks, as Zach Dezenzo and Shay Whitcomb could be called up from the minors to make their MLB debuts. Both are right-handed hitters that could team with the left-handed hitting Jon Singleton in a platoon situation, and Dezenzo might be the preferred choice of the two prospects because he has more experience than Whitcomb as a first baseman. (Hat tip to Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle.)