[8] He rescinded his college commitment to California State University, Fullerton and agreed to a signing bonus of $1.35 million, which was $550,500 under the slot value.

[9][10] Carlson made his professional debut that same year with the Gulf Coast League Cardinals, batting .251 with three home runs and 22 RBI in 50 games.

[11] He began the 2018 season with Peoria, and after batting .234 with two home runs and nine RBI in 13 games, was promoted to the Palm Beach Cardinals.

[18][19] After slashing .281/.364/.518 with 21 home runs, 59 RBI, and 18 stolen bases over 108 games with Springfield, he was promoted to the Memphis Redbirds in August.

He was originally selected to play in the Arizona Fall League for the Glendale Desert Dogs following the season,[23] but it was later announced he would not be participating.

[24] The Cardinals promoted Carlson to the major leagues on August 15, 2020, and he made his MLB debut that day against the Chicago White Sox.

[30] He was a finalist for the National League Rookie of the Year Award, alongside Jonathan India and Trevor Rogers.

[33] Carlson hit the final of a record-tying four consecutive home runs between teammates on July 2, 2022, the 11th such occurrence in major league history.

[39] Carlson led the team in Spring Training with three home runs and 13 RBIs, before a collision with right fielder Jordan Walker with both chasing a fly ball on March 25.

Carlson suffered an injury to his left shoulder after falling hard on the warning track after the collision, also hurting his hip and ankle.