Carter is back in the lineup Friday against Tampa Bay. Carter was out of the lineup Thursday and has sat out for two of the team's last four games. He'll be back at first base on Friday, batting seventh in the order against Rays' righty Erasmo Ramirez.

Carter is not in the lineup for Tuesday's game against the Indians. Although Carter has still been getting most of the playing time at first base, this marks his third absence from the lineup in the last 12 games, following a seven-week stretch in which he started every contest. Jonathan Singleton is cutting into some of his at-bats, but Carter has been productive since a terrible April, making him a good bet to hold on to the starting job at first base. Singleton is just 3-for-20 since his call-up, with 10 strikeouts and no home runs.

Carter is not in the lineup for Saturday's game against the Red Sox, MLB.com's Brian McTaggart reports. Carter will get a day off with the Astros employing a lefty-heavy lineup against Red Sox starter Clay Buchholz. Jonathan Singleton will get the start at first base Saturday afternoon.

Carter went 2-for-4 Saturday with a double and his 13th home run of the season. He continues to struggle to keep his batting average above .200, but if you can withstand the hit in that category Carter's still a solid power source. Jonathan Singleton's promotion could eventually cut into Carter's playing time, but Singleton's has even more trouble making contact in the majors than Carter has, so at least at the moment Carter's spot seems secure.

Carter had a double and a two-run homer during Wednesday's 8-4 win at Colorado. Carter's 12th home run of the season came in the ninth inning off Rockies reliever John Axford. The sixth-year first baseman is hitting .206/.329/.411 through 65 games for the Astros thus far.

Carter went 2-for-3 with two runs, a walk and his 11th home run of the season on Friday. Carter is striking out a preposterously high 34.7% of the time, but his two hits Friday finally raised his average over the .200 mark to .206. The 28-year-old slugged at least .451 in each of the last three seasons, so the Astros and fantasy owners alike are hoping Friday's performance sparks an improvement over the .407 mark he has posted so far this season.

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.