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Usually, if a manager comes to visit a pitcher in the middle of his outing, it’s to give him some sort of bad news.
Fortunately, for Carter Baumler, Texas Rangers manager Skip Schumaker had something worth talking about on Monday night.
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Pitcher Carter Baumler #68 of the Texas Rangers throws during the sixth inning of a World Baseball Classic exhibition game against Team Brazil at Surprise Stadium on March 4, 2026 in Surprise, Arizona. (Chris Coduto/Getty Images)
Baumler entered the Rangers’ exhibition game against the Kansas City Royals in relief of MacKenzie Gore in the fifth inning. He did not allow a run and struck out one batter. But Schumaker appeared on the mound even after Baumler failed to meet the three-batter requirement before he could be removed from the game.
Schumaker gathered the infield around him and told him he had made the major league team to start the season. Baumler beamed as the group broke up.
“Someone said, ‘I wish I had a picture of you when you turned around and saw him,'” he said after the game, via MLB.com. “Most of the time you see the manager come out, (it’s) like, ‘OK, you’re out of the game.’
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Texas Rangers manager Skip Schumaker (55) checks his lineup card during the fifth inning against the Kansas City Royals at Surprise Stadium on February 20, 2026. (Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Imagn Images)
“I turned around, I saw him, I was caught off guard and I didn’t know what was going to happen. And then he said that to me and it was just a really cool moment. I’m definitely not going to forget that.”
Baumler said he thought he was going to be knocked out of the game. He didn’t know Schumaker was going to tell him he was on the team.
The Pittsburgh Pirates originally selected Baumler in the Rule 5 draft before the Rangers traded for him in the offseason. Because he was a Rule 5 selection, that meant the Rangers would have had to keep him on the roster for the entire season if they chose to put him on the opening day roster.
Once the decision was finalized, Schumaker was able to announce the good news.
Texas Rangers pitcher Carter Baumler during media day at Surprise Sports Complex on February 17, 2026. (Arianna Grainey/Imagn Images)
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Baumler has yet to make his major league debut. The Baltimore Orioles originally drafted him in the fifth round in 2020. He spent time in Baltimore’s farm system before moving around teams following the 2025 season.
