ARLINGTON -- Evan Carter is the Rangers’ top prospect for a reason, and he showed that Saturday night.

MLB Pipeline’s ninth-ranked prospect, Carter capped off Double-A Frisco’s comeback victory over the Amarillo Sod Poodles Saturday night with a walk-off RBI single in the 10th inning. It was the first extra-inning win for the RoughRiders and their first walk-off win of 2023.

Carter is slashing .302/.430/.426 with an .856 OPS in 32 games this season despite hitting a slight speed bump this month. His batting average sits at .254 in May, but the outfielder has multiple hits in each of his past three games at .615 (8-for-13), raising his season average from .267 to .302.

Seen as a potential September call-up if he moves through the system quickly, Carter hit .295/.397/.489 between High-A Hickory and Double-A Frisco in 2022. If he continues to stay hot, a three-hour drive south to Round Rock could be in his future sooner rather than later.

Other top performers this week (May 14-20)

Triple-A Round Rock
Like the RoughRiders, the Express also walked off their opponent Saturday night, courtesy of an RBI single from first baseman Blaine Crim, who delivered the winning knock to give Round Rock a 6-5 victory over the El Paso Chihuahuas.

After a hot start in April in which he slashed .306/.398/.458, Crim took a dip in May to just a .216 average on the month. But the first baseman has gone 5-for-19 in the past week, including multi-hit games against the Chihuahuas and the Oklahoma City Dodgers, seeming to get back on track in his second year in Triple-A.

Crim has hit at every level of the sport, even winning the Puerto Rican Winter League batting title in the 2021-22 offseason, and he could potentially see a late-season call-up if the big league club is in need of a corner bat down the stretch.

Double-A Frisco
Carter wasn’t the only RoughRider to begin to hit his stride this week. Luisangel Acuña singled to drive in the tying run on Saturday night, and he stole second before ultimately scoring the game-winning run on Carter’s RBI single.

Acuña is having one of his best professional seasons to date, slashing .316/.385/.458 in 36 games with Double-A Frisco. After a late-season promotion, he hit just .224/.302/.349 in 37 games with the RoughRiders in 2022.

Acuña has been elite on both sides of the field this season, flashing Gold Glove potential up the middle while also consistently displaying the hit-tool that’s made his brother Ronald a superstar for the Braves.

A-ball (Single-A Down East and High-A Hickory)
Rangers’ No. 5 prospect Brock Porter has settled in nicely in his first professional season, sporting a 1.21 ERA in seven starts (22 1/3 innings) with Single-A Down East. He’s got 31 strikeouts to 16 walks on the season.

Porter, ranked as MLB Pipeline’s No. 78 overall prospect, has not allowed an earned run in his past four starts since April 21, when he allowed just one. In the month of May, he’s allowed no earned runs (two unearned) in 10 1/3 innings of work.