Evan Carter began the 2023 baseball season in Double-A. He was still in the minors by the time the calendar flipped to September.
But Carter has quickly ascended to breakout star status in the MLB playoffs.
The young Texas Rangers outfielder has wowed at the plate and in the field during the club's postseason run to the ALCS.
In the Rangers' 2-0 Game 1 ALCS win over the Houston Astros, Carter supplied an RBI double and later made a spectacular leaping grab at the wall that started a huge eighth-inning double play.
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By the time the Rangers left Houston with a 2-0 series lead, Carter was hitting .350/.536/1.236 with one homer and three RBIs across the first 20 playoff at-bats of his career. And for Game 3, manager Bruce Bochy slotted Carter third in Texas' lineup between multi-time All-Stars Corey Seager and Adolis García.
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Suffice to say, Carter has suddenly turned into a major piece on a star-studded Texas club. And he's done so just a few years removed from being an under-the-radar high school draft prospect.
Here's what to know about the Rangers' young sensation:
Where is Evan Carter from?
Carter is a native of Elizabethton, Tennessee.
What is Evan Carter's age?
Carter turned 21 years old on Aug. 29.
Where did Evan Carter go to college?
Carter committed to Duke University but never actually played for the Blue Devils.
When was Evan Carter drafted?
That's because the Rangers selected Carter 50th overall in the second round of the 2020 MLB Draft. Carter, a 17-year-old outfielder for Elizabethton High School at the time, signed with Texas for an under-slot value of $1.25 million rather than going to college.
The Rangers' selection of Carter came as a stunner to the baseball industry. According to MLB.com's Jim Callis, Carter was not named on MLB.com's list of the top 200 prospects, ESPN's list of the top 100 prospects or Baseball America's list of the top 500 prospects entering the draft.
Of course, Carter's senior high school season was cut very short due to COVID-19. But the Rangers had already seen enough to take him in the second round of a shortened five-round 2020 draft.
"It was not a hard pick in the second round at all," Rangers scouting director Kip Fagg told MLB.com. "The conviction we had as a group, how good we felt, it's one of the most unanimous decisions we've had. Everyone loved the kid."
When did Evan Carter make his MLB debut?
Carter never really gave the Rangers any reason to second-guess their selection. In just his second professional season, he was named the Rangers' 2022 Minor League Player of the Year after hitting .287/.388/.476 with 11 homers and 66 RBIs in High A.
He carried that momentum into the 2023 season, where he hit .284/.411/.451 with 12 homers and 62 RBIs over 97 Double-A games to earn a midseason promotion to Triple-A. He didn't need any time to adjust to Triple-A pitching either, slashing .353/.436/.382 over his first eight contests.
Then, just 10 days after he turned 21, Carter received a call up to the bigs on Sept. 8. He debuted against the Oakland A's at Globe Life Field that same day and recorded a single in his first MLB at-bat.
What are Evan Carter's stats?
Carter made 23 appearances with the Rangers over the final month of the regular season. He hit .306/.413/.645 with five home runs and 12 RBIs.
