Some of his hobbies include surfing, hunting, fishing and beach volleyball…he started golfing after beginning his professional baseball career, and it has since become one of his favorite ways to spend off days…he makes frequent visits to the beach during offseasons, living only minutes from the coast back in his native San Diego…he began surfing early in his childhood, well before he started playing organized baseball...Carson was a Chargers and Padres fan while growing up in San Diego…he still follows the Chargers despite the franchise’s 2017 move to Los Angeles... While Carson progressed through the Minor Leagues, Kevin Cash’s son, J.D., frequently asked his father about the Rays No. 1 prospect…Cash joked that his son asked about Carson more often than he asked about then-Rays star Randy Arozarena... Selected by the Rays in the first round (28th overall) of the 2021 First-Year Player Draft out of Torrey Pines (Calif.) High School...Hit .495/.598/.979 (48-for-97) with 10 2B, 11 HR, 35 RBI and 34 SB in 31 games as a high school senior…was committed to UC Berkeley before signing with the Rays.
2025
Had his contract selected Aug. 21 and made his Major League debut the following evening vs. STL at Steinbrenner Field…remained with the Rays through the end of the season, appearing in 32 games and making 29 starts at shortstop...From his Aug. 22 debut on, his 76 assists at shortstop tied KC Bobby Witt Jr. for third most in the AL behind CLE Gabriel Arias (80) and SEA J.P. Crawford (78)…committed one error in his first 22 games and four in his final 10 games...On Aug. 22 vs. STL, became the eighth player in the majors since 1901 to homer and record three RBI or more while starting at shortstop in his MLB debut, first since COL Trevor Story on April 4, 2016 at AZ…tied the club record for RBI in a player’s debut, matching Wander Franco on June 22, 2021 vs. BOS…became the ninth Ray to homer in his debut (last: René Pinto on April 26, 2022 vs. SEA) and the ninth to record multiple hits (last: Pinto, 2-for-3)...Went 2-for-5 with a double and 2 RBI in his third career game on Aug. 25 at CLE…joined Delmon Young (Aug. 29-31, 2006) as the only Rays to record an extra-base hit in each of their first three career games…also joined Young (2G, 2006) and teammate Jake Mangum (2G, 2025) as the only players in franchise history to record two games with multiple hits and multiple RBI within the first three games of their career...Became the fifth player in the majors since 1901 to record three XBH or more, a homer, 5 RBI or more and a stolen base over his first three career games, first since PIT Bligh Madris from June 20-22, 2022...Tallied a hit in each of this first four career games becoming the ninth player in franchise history to accomplish the feat…was the sixth Ray to record two multi-hit efforts (or more) within his first four career games...Joined Osleivis Basabe (2023), Willy Adames (2018) and Ben Zobrist (2006) as the only players in Rays history to start at shortstop in each of their first five career games...From Sept. 18-19, homered in back-to-back games for the first time…the second homer came off BOS Garrett Crochet, joining MIA Eric Wagaman as the only rookies to take Crochet deep all season…became the third Rays rookie over the last six seasons (2020-25) to homer in consecutive games, joining Junior Caminero (Aug. 23-24, 2024) and Randy Arozarena (6x, last: Aug. 2-3, 2021)…was his fifth homer of the year—his 5 HR through his first 25 games tied Mike Brosseau (2019) and Nathaniel Lowe (2019) for the most in franchise history…his 5 HR as a shortstop from his Aug. 22 debut through the end of the season tied for fourth most in the AL...Connected on his 20th home run of the minor league season on Aug. 10, securing his third consecutive season with 20 HR and 20 SB… joined Kyle Tucker (2017-19) as the only minor leaguers since at least 1995 to record three straight 20-20 campaigns…became the fourth Durham hitter with a 20-20 season since the Bulls became the Rays Triple-A affiliate in 1998, joining Kameron Misner (2023), Josh Lowe (2021) and Justin Ruggiano (2007)...Named the Rays No. 3 prospect by Baseball America following the season…also tabbed as the system’s Best Defensive Infielder and as having the Best Infield Arm among Rays prospects in the publication’s annual Best Tools survey.
2024
Spent the entire season with Double-A Montgomery, hitting .256/.352/.469 (111-for-433) with 20 2B, six 3B, 20 HR, 69 RBI and 33 SB in 115 games…named MiLB Defensive Player of the Year, Top MLB Prospect in the Southern League and a SL postseason All-Star by MLB.com…named a Minor League All-Star and Double-A All-Star by Baseball America…led the SL in RBI, runs (83) and triples (tied) while ranking second in slugging percentage, extra-base hits and total bases (203), and third in home runs and OPS (.821)…selected to Team USA’s 2024 WBSC Premier12 roster…ranked by Baseball America as the No. 7 overall prospect in baseball and the Rays No. 1 prospect following the season… the publication tabbed him as the Best Defensive Infielder and having the Best Infield Arm in the Rays organization, while crediting him as the Best Defensive Shortstop, having the Best Infield Arm and being the Most Exciting Player in the Southern League in its Best Tools survey.
2023
Slashed .257/.356/.497 (112-for-435) with 21 2B, seven 3B, 23 HR, 81 RBI and 20 SB in 115 games across three levels of the Rays system…was named Defensive Player of the Year by the Rays Baseball Operations department for the second consecutive season…ranked among Rays farmhands in triples (tied-second), XBH (tied-fourth, 51), HR (fifth), RBI (T5th) and total bases (sixth, 216)…named to the Rays Organizational All-Star Team and the South Atlantic League postseason All-Star Team by MLB.com…named to the Arizona Fall League Rising Stars Game after hitting .246 (17-for-69) with two 2B, six RBI and five SB in 19 games for the Peoria Javelinas…ranked by Baseball America as the No. 37 overall prospect in the Minors and the No. 2 prospect in the Rays system following the season.
2022
In 113 games for Class-A Charleston, hit .252 (114-for-452) with 22 2B, 10 3B, 19 HR, 70 RBI and 28 SB…named Defensive Player of the Year by the Rays Baseball Operations department and claimed the Rawlings Gold Glove Award as the Best Defensive Shortstop in the minors…named a Carolina League postseason All-Star…ranked among CL leaders in triples (tied-first), HR (second), extra-base hits (second, 51), slugging percentage (third, .471), RBI (fourth), runs (fourth, 81), hits (sixth) and OPS (sixth, .818)…ranked among Rays minor leaguers in triples (second), extra-base hits (tied-third), HR (tied-fifth), runs (tied-fifth), walks (seventh, 57), hits (eighth), steals (eighth) and RBI (ninth).
2021
Made his professional debut with the FCL Rays, batting .282 (11-for-39) with four 2B, one 3B and eight RBI in 11 games…ranked by Baseball America as the Rays No. 7 prospect following the season.
