ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Texas Rangers center fielder Evan Carter exited Friday night's game against the Chicago White Sox with right wrist soreness, three innings after jamming his hand on a spectacular diving catch.
Carter made the highlight grab to take a hit away from Mike Tauchman leading off in the fourth inning. Carter put his right hand down to the ground as he was lunging forward to make the catch with his gloved left hand. He was replaced in the field in the seventh.
“I think it’ll be fine,” Carter said after the Rangers' 3-1 victory. “It's not broken or anything. It’s just jammed ... landed on it pretty hard.”
Carter said he would be taking some medication with the expectation that there is some inflammation in his wrist.
“If I can tape it up and not move it and it doesn’t hurt, then I’m going to play,” Carter said. “But I won’t know until tomorrow how it feels. I think they just want to give it a day and see how I recover tonight.”
Manager Bruce Bochy also said he didn't think the issue was serious that that Carter could possibly play Saturday.
“But more than likely he'll get a day, see if we can get that calmed down,” Bochy said. “We'll re-evaluate him tomorrow and see where we're at.”
When the Rangers took the field in the seventh, Wyatt Langford moved from left field to center, and Sam Haggerty entered the game to play left.
Carter said his wrist hurt immediately after making that catch, and the left-handed hitter said the right hand — which is on the bottom of the bat — felt “a little bit weird” when he batted and flew out in the fifth inning.
He had three home runs in his previous four games, reaching base at least three times and with an extra-base hit in each of those games. He was 0 for 2 with a walk against the White Sox, with that flyout to left being his only plate appearance after the defensive gem.
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Stephen Hawkins, The Associated Press