Rangers’ rookie Evan Carter on his MLB journey: “It all happened really fast”
Yahoo Sports national MLB insider Russell Dorsey sits down with Rangers rookie outfielder Evan Carter at Spring Training in Arizona to discuss his development during COVID-19, his whirlwind call up and winning the World Series with the Texas Rangers.
Video Transcript
RUSSELL DORSEY: I'm here with Texas Rangers', technically, rookie outfielder Evan Carter. Evan, I appreciate you joining me. Before we get into a lot of different things, I just kind of want to ask you about the last 12 months, and what that's been like for you. Obviously, a year ago you're preparing for Double-A. You get to the big league level at 20 years old. And then you become the youngest player since Mickey Mantle to hit third in the World Series. What does this last 12 months been like for you?
EVAN CARTER: Yeah, it's been a whirlwind, just like what you said. Going from Double-A to Triple-A for a little bit, and then getting called up, it all happened really fast. So really blessed to be able to have gotten to experience that and then at the same time a little bit spoiled, just to have gotten to experience the postseason and winning a World Series so quickly, I guess, in my career. I mean, there was people on the team that had been playing for 10 years and never been to the playoffs. It was crazy. But it was a ton of fun.
RUSSELL DORSEY: There's tons of ebbs and flows that happen throughout the course of a season. And obviously, you haven't played a full season in the big leagues yet. But from your experience, coming up through the minor leagues really quickly, have you been able to handle those ebbs and flows that are going to come?
EVAN CARTER: Yeah, you know, baseball is really hard. So I'm thankful that I got to spend so many years in the minors, so many seasons and games being around older players. It's just one of those things. I learned how to fail and how to react to that and get out of it as quick as possible. So I think that that's a really valuable skill to have because I know this year is not going to be just perfect the whole time.
I'm going to get punched in the mouth. And it's going to be, how quickly can I respond from that? Baseball is way too hard of a sport, way too humbling of a sport, to just expect to do good all the time. So figuring out how to respond to playing bad and getting out of that as quickly as possible. I'm really excited for that.
RUSSELL DORSEY: You've had an interesting development journey. To rewind a little bit, you got drafted during COVID. Your senior season got cut short. You were 17 when you got drafted actually. So you've always been one of the younger guys at each level, continuing that in the big leagues. For you, going through that at a time where, I think, it was a year between the time you played games, how were you able to continue to develop your game in a time that was so wild not only for the world, but especially as a baseball player?
EVAN CARTER: I mean, it was-- gosh. We were at home. So all the gyms were closed. We had just a couple of free weights in the basement, just doing exercises downstairs, a net and a tee. I mean, there wasn't really nowhere to go. Especially where I'm at, the facilities to be able to even go hit in the first place are kind of limited.
So when all that's off the table, what do you do? It was a tough time. And it was for everybody, not just for me. So it was kind of we-got-through-it-type deal. And everything worked out the way it was supposed to.
RUSSELL DORSEY: Do you feel like because of that, you've had to expedite your development? Whether that's as a player, whether that's your body, and kind of get yourself like, OK, I should have been here. But we couldn't do that because of COVID. And now that you're at the big league level to say, OK, I'm going to maybe work on this, that I wasn't able to do over the last couple of years to get myself prepared.
EVAN CARTER: Yeah, I was really thankful, especially when I got to the instructional league camp. I guess they had an extended one that year where we didn't get to play a season. Carlos Cardoza has been my manager-- gosh-- Low-A, High, Double-A. We come up together. So he's been unbelievable as far as just for me learning baseball more.
I feel like there's just been so many people in my corner that have helped me, I guess, if you're talking about expediting the learning process of, hey, you got to learn how to play the game. You can be athletic. But if you don't know baseball, it doesn't really translate all the time. So I've been really thankful to have those people in my corner.
And then now, too, being around older players that have been there and done that and a lot of really good hitters that I get to learn from and watch, and the Corey Seager, Marcus Semien, all these people that-- he's won the MVP of the World Series. He's one of the best players on the planet. And getting to watch what his routine looks like and how they prepare every day, it's been great.