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Rangers' Evan Carter being 'cautious,' to see back specialist

Texas Rangers outfielder Evan Carter, who has not started over the past three games because of lingering back soreness, is scheduled to see a specialist Monday.

Carter told reporters on Sunday that he felt uncomfortable while making a pinch-hitting appearance earlier in the week, and it progressively worsened before he was limited to a pinch-hit appearance on Friday and then held out of each of the past two games.

He previously had a stress fracture in his back in 2021.

"I just don't want to let it get to that point again," Carter told reporters Sunday, according to The Dallas Morning News. "I know what it felt like before, and I haven't felt anything like that in the last couple of years. I'd rather miss a couple of games now and find out it's all in my head, than let it get worse. Hopefully, I'm just being overly cautious."

Carter, who burst on the scene with a mixture of clutch hitting, defense and speed during the Rangers' run to the World Series last season, is hitting just .216 with 5 home runs, 15 RBIs, 23 runs and 2 steals while striking out 37 times in 125 at-bats this season.