There haven’t been very many days when the Texas Rangers have been at full strength this season.

However, that time could be coming soon, as Texas is set to get back one of its key pieces as it kicks off its three-city road trip.

The Rangers are expected to activate outfielder Evan Carter before Tuesday’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays.

Rangers President of Baseball Operations Chris Young informed the media of this before Sunday’s 8-1 win over the St Louis Cardinals.

On May 18th, the Rangers placed Carter on the IL with a grade two right quad strain. Initially, Texas thought Carter might be able to avoid the IL.

From my understanding, quads are really easy to play through, and you don’t really know that there’s anything seriously wrong until it tears in half,” Carter said.

“Then, at that point, you’re missing two or three months, and that’s not good. It’s new for me. I feel like my entire baseball career has either been my back or shin splints. I’ve never had a soft tissue injury before, so this is a first for me.”

Carter played in three games on a rehab assignment with AAA Round Rock, where he went 1-10 with a walk and an RBI.

After starting the season with Round Rock, Carter played just 11 MLB games before getting hurt, slashing .182/.270/.273 with a home run and 3 RBI.

It’ll be interesting to see how Bruce Bochy manages his outfield, as in last weekend’s series win over St Louis, the trio of Alejandro Osuna, Wyatt Langford, and Sam Haggerty combined to have a great series.

Not to mention, Adolis Garcia could be back from his “mental reset” and will have to factor into the lineup somewhere.

With Tampa Bay righty Drew Rasmussen on the mound, we will likely see Carter in the lineup in some way tonight.