Texas Rangers primary center fielder Evan Carter had right hip surgery and is not expected to be ready for the scheduled start of next season.
Chris Young, the team's president of baseball operations, said Monday that Carter had surgery last week. Dr. William Robertson addressed a labral issue and hip impingement during the arthroscopic procedure.
Young said the hip likely affected Carter throughout the season, Carter played 141 games and made all 112
of his defensive starts in center field. He hit .194 with nine homers, 40 RBIs and 17 stolen bases.
There is a likely recovery period of about six months, but Young said the Rangers expect Carter to play a majority of next season.
With a lockout looming when baseball’s five-year labor contract expires on Dec. 1, there will be uncertainty about spring training and the scheduled start of the 2027 season on March 24.
Young said the team thought during Carter's exit physical that his discomfort was muscular and nothing major. The 24-year-old outfielder had further diagnostic testing after the soreness continued into the offseason, then saw two specialists who recommended the surgery.
“I do believe in light of what we’ve learned in this diagnosis for Evan, that it probably impacted him to some degree over the course of the season. It is impressive, his ability to play through this,” Young said. “I think it’s safe to say, given the extent of the surgery, that there was something in there.”
Carter made an impressive MLB debut in 2023 as part of the Rangers team's only World Series championship. After his call-up in September as an injury fill-in, he made his big league debut 10 days after his 21st birthday Carter hit .306 with five homers and 12 RBIs in 23 games and reached base in all 17 of the Rangers’ postseason games, hitting .300 with nine doubles and 10 walks.
He played in only 108 out of a possible 324 games the following two seasons due to injures. Carter missed most of 2024 with a lower back injury and had three injured list stints in 2025, for a right quadriceps strain, back spasms and a season-ending fractured right wrist.
A speedy outfielder who plays stellar defense, Carter has hit .215 with 24 homers and 92 RBIs in 272 big league games.
“He still is a young player with a bright career ahead of him. Our doctors anticipate that he will make a full recovery," Young said. "But it’s going to be an offseason of rehabbing versus an offseason of training for next season.”
Ezequiel Duran, who Sunday was selected a Gold Glove winner for a utility player, started 14 games in center last season, and primary left fielder Wyatt Langford made 13 starts in center. Young wasn't ready to say how the Rangers would cover center without Carter, and said that could be impacted by any potential offseason moves.
Alex Cintron will not return as full-time assistant hitting coach on the big league staff, but will remain to work in the hitting department for the entire Rangers organization. Young said that was a choice made by Cintron, and that the search is underway to find his replacement on the staff.
Assistant pitching coach Dave Bush also will not return, but Young said there are no plans to fill that vacancy.
The rest of manager Skip Schumaker's staff is returning next season.
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