The surest sign of spring, more certain that a groundhog sighting, is the annual ritual known as “bestshapeinmylifeness.”

Every year, players come into camp, “In the best shape of my life.” 

“Never felt better.”

But mother nature wins over human nature every time. 

This year’s bestshaper is Evan Carter. He says he’s finally healthy and determined to chance the narrative of the past two seasons. 

Carter was the Rangers savior when he came up in 2023, sparking what had turned into a struggling, fading Rangers team, giving them the juice to squeak into the postseason and march through the playoffs. It was twenty-three glorious regular season games in which he did everthing: hit, hit for power, walked, stole bases. He batted .306 with an on-base percentage of .413, and an OPS+ of 187. Those are Hall of Fame numbers. And he was just twenty years old.

Baseball is a humbling sport. Filled with that strong wind of success from the ’23 season, Carter’s bubble burst. Injury and reality brought him back to earth in 2024, batting just .188, with a dismal .272 on-base percentage. He played just forty-five games before his back took him out for good in May.

Last season was more of the same. He started the year in Triple-A, and then landed on the injured list, finally getting called up in June. His bad back put him back in the I.L. Then a broken wrist. He was able to get into only sixty-three games. While he showed offensive improvement, it wasn’t eye-opening.

So, here we are in 2026. Evan Carter says he’s healthy and in the best shape of his life. What hasn’t been healthy, though, is his approach to hitting left-handed pitching.

Carter’s career slash line against right-handers is .262/.350/.479/.829. Against left-handers it’s a dismal .083/.191/.083/.275 slash line.

This season is important for Carter for two reasons. Can he stay healthy? And can he make himself an everyday centerfielder by hitting lefties, or will he force Rangers manager Skip Schumaker to turn him into a platoon player?

He’s in the best shape of his life. Oh, and Evan Carter is only twenty-three. He’s never going to be that hitter he was in that glorious 2023 run (very few hitters are). But he can still be a special player. If he can just stay on the field and play. 

*****

Texas versus Cleveland, 2:05