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Usually, if a manager comes out to visit a pitcher in the middle of his outing, it’s to deliver some kind of bad news.
Fortunately for Carter Baumler on Monday night, Texas Rangers manager Skip Schumaker had something worth talking about.
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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 a batter. But Schumaker appeared on the mound even after Baumler didn’t meet the three-batter requirement before he would be allowed to be removed from the game.
Schumaker gathered the infield around him and told him he had made a streak in the majors to start the season. Baumler beamed as the cluster broke.
“Someone said, ‘I wish I got 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.’
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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 just caught off guard and didn’t know what was going to happen. And then he told me and it was just a really cool moment. I’ll definitely never forget that.”
Baumler said he thought he would be taken out of the game. He had no idea Schumaker would tell him he was making 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 sit him on Opening Day.
When the decision was finally made, Schumaker was able to deliver the good news.
Texas Rangers pitcher Carter Baumler during media day at Surprise Sports Complex on Feb. 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 after the 2025 season.
