Rangers Prospect Carter Baumler Makes The Roster After Being Told During A Moundvisit

When Texas Rangers manager Skip Schumaker was making his trip out onto the mound, prospect Carter Baumler assumed he was being taken out of the game; instead, he got the news that he would be on the team’s Opening Day roster.

Schumaker joined Baumler on the mound after the rookie retired two Kansas City Royals batters in the fifth inning. Schumaker was joined by the entire Rangers infield when he delivered the news to the 24-year-old reliever. The entire infield congratulated Baumler on this achievement before quickly composing himself to strike out outfielder Isaac Collins with a 96.8 MPH fastball.

“I wasn’t expecting it. I was like, why is he coming out here? And he got on the mound and told me I made the team,” Baumler said during an in-game interview.

“I mean, honestly, I thought I was like getting taken out of the game. … Obviously, whenever the manager comes out, you’re usually done.”

Baumler appeared in eight spring training games, posting 9⅓ innings while striking out 10 batters and only allowing one earned run.

The rookie headed back toward the dugout and was greeted with a hug from Schumaker and high fives from all of his Rangers teammates.

“You want to make it as memorable as you can,” Schumaker said. “I’ll never forget when I got called up –the exact moment, the exact game, in Memphis, Tennessee. … It was just like the most amazing time. I was just trying to think of a special way to tell him.”

Baumler was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the 2020 amateur draft straight out of high school. He quickly had Tommy John surgery after being drafted. He was with the Orioles from 2022 to 2025, but he was left off the 40-man roster. He would then go on to be selected by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the Rule-5 draft. His stint with the Pirates did not last long, as he was traded to the Rangers the same day.