ARLINGTON, Texas — Two months ago, on the day he became eligible to buy a six-pack of beer, Evan Carter played his first game at Triple-A.
On Saturday, he was batting third for the American League champion Rangers in Game 2 of the World Series.
If Carter was feeling any trepidation after his sudden rise that landed him on the biggest stage in the sport, he certainly didn’t show it.
The left fielder collected a pair of doubles in his first two at-bats in Friday’s Game 1 win over the Diamondbacks, becoming the third-youngest player ever to record multiple extra-base hits in a World Series game.
Only Juan Soto and Andruw Jones were younger when they accomplished the feat.
“[Double-A], that feels like three years ago at this point,” Carter said Saturday before Game 2 at Globe Life Field. “Time’s flown by. It’s crazy that it’s almost November now. This is the farthest I’ve ever played baseball before. But where else would you rather be?
“This is every ball player’s dream. This is where you want to be at and the stage you want to play on. So, gosh, how fun is this? This is great.”
Carter, a second-round draft pick out of high school in 2020, played just eight games at Triple-A before the Rangers called him up on Sept. 8 when Adolis Garcia landed on the injured list.
He hit .307 with five home runs and a 1.059 OPS in 23 games and has not cooled off in the playoffs, entering Saturday batting .311 with a .992 OPS.
On Friday, Carter became the second-youngest player in MLB history to start and bat third in the first game of a World Series, beaten out only by Mickey Mantle in 1952.
“I’d say more than anything, his poise [has stood out],” manager Bruce Bochy said Saturday. “He had great composure up there at the plate, out in left field. His age, and to be on this stage, it’s not a big deal to him. He’s not in awe of anything. We said he plays with no fear. He’s just a special kid, I think, that’s going to have a tremendous career.
“He’s only going to get better on all facets of the game but, more importantly, is the makeup of the kid, he’s got that mental toughness you love.”
With a night to sleep on it, Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo did not second-guess having Miguel Castro attack Garcia in the bottom of the 11th inning Friday night.
Castro’s 3-1 pitch was a 97 mph sinker that caught too much of the middle of the plate and Garcia crushed it for a walk-off home run.
“Do I have a regret?” Lovullo said. “Like I said [Friday] night, I was thinking through it with a very clear head, had a lot of good conversations with the staff around me, and not one person said we should pitch around him and put him on.”
The winner of Game 1 of the World Series has gone on to win 62.7 percent of Fall Classics, including 21 of the past 25.