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.

Carter set an Astros franchise record Wednesday with his seventh multi-homer game of the season. He totaled three hits on the night and drove in three in the 4-1 win over the Angels. Carter has 35 home runs this season, 22 of which have come in his last 51 games. He's only one homer shy of the MLB lead behind Giancarlo Stanton and Nelson Cruz.

Carter homered for the third consecutive game during Wednesday's 5-4 loss to Oakland. Carter's ninth inning solo shot off interim A's closer Eric O'Flaherty was his 33rd home run of the season and 14th since the the All-Star break.

Carter hit a go-ahead three-run homer in the eighth inning of Tuesday's 4-2 win over the Athletics. Carter took A's reliever Luke Gregerson deep for his 32nd home run of the season. The Astros' slugger is hitting .283/.323/.663 with 11 home runs and 28 RBI in August.

Carter clubbed his 31st home run of the season during Monday's loss to the Athletics. Carter's two-run shot in the eighth inning off Jeff Samardzija was his only hit of the game in four at-bats. The 27-year-old DH appears to have Samardzija's number, hitting .417 with two doubles and two home runs against him lifetime.