In his return to the starting lineup Sunday, Carter walked twice, stole a base and drove in a run on a sacrifice fly during Houston's 7-6 loss to Toronto.

Despite a terrible .198 batting average, Carter is getting on base at a .305 clip this season thanks to an elite walk rate (13.2 percent). With 10 home runs, he's also on pace to surpass 30 home runs for the second consecutive season.

Carter is not in Houston's lineup for Saturday's game against the Blue Jays, Jose de Jesus Ortiz of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Carter hasn't had any health issues recently, playing in 31 straight games at first base, so he's just getting some rest. Marwin Gonzalez will get the start at first.

Carter hit a two-run home run -- his seventh of the season -- off A's starter Sonny Gray during Tuesday's 6-4 win.

Carter didn't strike out during the game, which is arguably more impressive than the flash of power he displayed. It was only the seventh time in 38 games this season that he did not record a strikeout.

Carter had a standard-Carter game, going 1-for-4 with three strikeouts and a three-run bomb in the 6-5 win over Toronto on Saturday.

This is what Carter does as he has 51 strikeouts in just 116 at-bats, and six home runs in his 19 hits this season. Carter is due for a power surge soon, so this may just be the start of one after hitting 37 homers last season.

Carter, who was dropped to eighth in the batting order Wednesday, went 1-for-2 with a walk during Houston's 4-3 win over San Francisco.

Carter is hitting a mere .116 with 23 strikeouts in 43 at-bats over the last 14 days, so it was only a matter of time before Astros manager A.J. Hinch dropped him in the batting order. Meanwhile, Jonathan Singleton leads all minor league players with 11 home runs and had 10 RBI in a game Wednesday. Carter's playing time may soon be in jeopardy if he does not show improvement at the plate.

Carter hit his fifth home run of the season on Saturday, but it was his only hit in 11 at-bats over the weekend.

Carter fanned six times in those 11 at-bats, as his 38.8 percent strikeout rate and 56 percent contact rate are his lowest marks in any season with over 100 plate appearances.

Carter went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts in the 2-0 loss to the Angels Saturday.

Carter is just 3-for-31 over his last nine games including 15 strikeouts. Carter is posting a dreadful .150 average thus far this season, but has walked 13 times to obtain a .257 OBP. Look for him to get hot at some point as he is one of the streakiest players in the league.

Carter clubbed his fourth home run of the season during Wednesday's loss to Texas.

Carter's two-run shot in the ninth inning off Texas reliever Spencer Patton was his only hit of the game in three at-bats, though he also drew a walk earlier in the game. The Astros' first baseman is hitting a mere .152/.257/.293 through 26 games this season.

Carter went 1-for-3 with a two-run home run -- his third of the season -- in his return to the starting lineup Sunday against Seattle.

Carter also drew a walk in the game to raise his OBP to a miserable .266 through 23 games this season. The 28-year-old is once again struggling to make contact (57 percent) and is striking out at a 37.2 percent clip thus far.

Carter is out of the lineup Saturday, ESPN 710's Shannon Drayer reports.

He's hitting just .152 on the season, and while it seemed like he may have been heating up earlier in the week, he is now hitless in his last three games with seven strikeouts. Marwin Gonzalez gets the start at first base Saturday.

Carter, who hit his second home run of the season among two hits Tuesday at San Diego, is hitting .346 (9-for-26) during a seven-game hitting streak.

After a 3-for-42 (.071) start to the season, Carter has raised his batting average to .176 during his seven-game hit streak.

Carter went 2-for-4 with his first home run of the season Wednesday night against the Mariners.

Carter led off the top of the seventh inning with a 414 foot homer to center off Mariners' starter J.A. Happ. He increased his batting average to .122 with the two-hit performance.

Carter went 1-for-3 with two walks, an RBI and a run scored in his return to the starting lineup Tuesday against Seattle.

Believe it or not, Carter's RBI was his first of the season through 13 games. The 28-year-old DH remains without a home run, however, as he currently sits on a .089/.196/.089 slash line with 21 strikeouts in 45 at-bats. Carter has proven to be a very streaky hitter in the past, so don't discount the possibility of a home run binge that might soon be forthcoming.

Carter will start at first base and hit seventh in Tuesday's game against the Mariners, according to Jose de Jesus Ortiz of the Houston Chronicle.

While Carter did not start Monday's game, he saw two at-bats off the bench and struck out both times, and is now just 3-for-42 (.071) on the season. He will attempt to get things turned around against Mariners starter Taijuan Walker.

Carter is not in the lineup Monday against the Mariners.

Carter has gotten off to a dreadful start at the plate as he's just 3-for-40 with no extra base hits and 17 strikeouts, but Monday's day off appears to be nothing more than just a regular day of rest. Marwin Gonzalez will fill in at first base in his stead, batting seventh.

Carter is not in the lineup Sunday against the Rangers.

Carter has started the first five games of the year for the Astros, but has collected just one hit in 19 at-bats, striking out eight times. Fantasy owners should grow accustomed to cold stretches from Carter, who is also capable of catching fire at any point. He'll get a day to clear his head Sunday, however, with Marwin Gonzalez scheduled to take over at first.

Carter will likely open 2015 as the Astros' primary first baseman, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.

The 28-year-old slugger figures to draw most of the starts at first base as a result of Jonathan Singleton's demotion to the minors. Carter is hitting .243 with five doubles, two home runs and 10 RBI over 37 Grapefruit League at-bats thus far.

Carter agreed to a one-year, $4.175 million deal with the Astros on Wednesday, the Houston Chronicle reports.

Carter will avoid arbitration and return to Houston in 2015, where he had his best season as a pro last year, hitting .227/.308/.491 with 37 homers and 88 RBI over 572 plate appearances. He's likely to remain an elite source of power and could even improve on his 2014 numbers with MLB batting champion Jose Altuve, a healthy George Springer and the newly-acquired Evan Gattis protecting him in the heart of Houston's lineup.

Carter is not in the lineup for Sunday's game against the Mets.

Carter will be held out in favor of Jonathan Singleton on the season's final day. He will finish with at least a tie for the second most home runs in the American League (37) unless Mike Trout or Jose Abreu homers multiple times Sunday.

Carter is dealing with a minor back ailment, but remains in the lineup Wednesday, the Houston Chronicle's Jose de Jesus Ortiz reports.

He was slotted to play first base Wednesday, but he'll instead DH to put less stress on his back. The fact that he wasn't scratched suggests that it is minor enough that he won't have to miss time because of it.