Carter Baumler thought he was coming out of the game. Instead, he’ll be sticking around a while.<\/p>\n
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\n Texas Rangers pitcher Carter Baumler, center, gets a fist-bump in the dugout after he was informed he made the opening day roster during the fifth inning of an exhibition baseball game against the Kansas City Royals, Monday, March 23, 2026, in Arlington., Texas. (Smiley N. Pool\/The Dallas Morning News via AP)(AP\/Smiley N. Pool)<\/p>\n
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\n Texas Rangers pitcher Carter Baumler, center, gets a fist-bump in the dugout after he was informed he made the opening day roster during the fifth inning of an exhibition baseball game against the Kansas City Royals, Monday, March 23, 2026, in Arlington., Texas. (Smiley N. Pool\/The Dallas Morning News via AP)(AP\/Smiley N. Pool)<\/p>\n
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) \u2014 Carter Baumler thought he was coming out of the game. Instead, he\u2019ll be sticking around a while.<\/p>\n
The mound visit Baumler received Monday night from Texas Rangers manager Skip Schumaker wasn\u2019t to remove the rookie right-hander from his last spring training outing, but rather to let him know he made the opening day roster.<\/a><\/p>\n Schumaker emerged from the dugout after Baumler retired the first two Kansas City Royals batters in the fifth inning. Texas catcher Danny Jansen and all four infielders were also on the mound when the new Rangers skipper<\/a> told the 24-year-old reliever he will start the season in the Texas bullpen.<\/p>\n \u201cI wasn\u2019t expecting it. I was like, why is he coming out here? And he got on the mound and told me I made the team,\u201d Baumler said during an in-game TV interview on the Rangers Sports Network. \u201cI mean, honestly, I thought I was like getting taken out of the game. \u2026 Obviously, whenever the manager comes out, you\u2019re usually done.\u201d<\/p>\n Jansen patted his catcher\u2019s mitt on Baumler\u2019s chest and the infielders offered their congratulations. Baumler, looking to make his major league<\/a> debut after never pitching above Double-A, had a big smile on his face but composed himself enough to strike out Isaac Collins swinging on a 96.8 mph fastball to end the inning.<\/p>\n In his eight spring training games, Baumler allowed one earned run and struck out 10 over 9 1\/3 innings.<\/p>\n Baumler hugged Schumaker when he got back to the dugout after the third out, then was greeted by high-fives from teammates.<\/p>\n Baumler was selected by Baltimore in the fifth round of the 2020 amateur draft out of high school in Iowa and had Tommy John surgery soon after that. He pitched in the Orioles organization from 2022-25, but was left off their 40-man roster last fall. He was scooped up by Pittsburgh in the first round of the Rule 5 draft at the winter meetings in December and traded to Texas the same day.<\/p>\n \u201cA few years ago I never would have expected this,\u201d Baumler said. \u201cLooking back \u2026 I\u2019m glad I kept my head down and kept hammering away.\u201d<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n