2026 Texas Rangers Opening Day Roster set

SURPRISE, ARIZONA - MARCH 18: Josh Smith #8 of the Texas Rangers waits for a pitch during a Spring Training game against the Kansas City Royals at Surprise Stadium on March 18, 2026 in Surprise, Arizona. (Photo by Brandon Sloter/Getty Images) | Getty Images The 2026 Texas Rangers Opening Day roster appears to be set after the announcements made by the club last night. The 26 players who will start the season on the active roster are as follows: Rotation Nathan Eovaldi Jacob deGrom MacKenzie Gore Jack Leiter Kumar Rocker Bullpen Chris Martin Robert Garcia Jakob Junis Jalen Beeks Cole Winn Tyler Alexander Jacob Latz Carter Baumler Catcher Danny Jansen Kyle Higashioka Infielders Jake Burger Josh Smith Corey Seager Josh Jung Ezequiel Duran Outfielder Wyatt Langford Evan Carter Brandon Nimmo Sam Haggerty DH Joc Pederson Andrew McCutchen This was more or less what we would have expected two weeks ago, with the only real questions being whether Kumar Rocker or Jacob Latz would be the team’s fifth starter, and who would get the final two spots in the bullpen.

The team announced prior to last night’s game that Rocker would be the fifth starter, Latz would be in the bullpen, and McCutchen and Duran would round out the position player group. We wondered at the time why there was no announcement as to who the final spot in the bullpen was going to. Rule 5 pick Carter Baumler had an excellent spring, and seemed to have earned a job, but there was no announcement as to whether he would be making the squad, or if it would be someone else.

As it turns out, that’s because the team was doing something special with Baumler, who came into last night’s exhibition game to start the fifth inning. After recording the first two outs of the inning, manager Skip Schumaker came out to the mound, along with catcher Danny Jansen and the infielders. Schumaker told Baumler then that he had made the team: View Link A pretty neat moment for Baumler, a 2020 5th round pick of the Baltimore Orioles who due to injuries had pitched just 88 innings over 49 appearances, with just six games above A ball, prior to the Rangers acquiring him as a Rule 5 selection this winter.

Baumler understandably got a little emotional talking about it during the broadcast. Procedurally, the Rangers will need to place Cody Freeman and Cody Bradford on the injured list before Thursday’s season opener in Philadelphia, and will need to create a 40 man roster spot for Andrew McCutchen. Its possible Bradford will go on the 60 day injured list, but he is expected to start a rehab assignment soon after Round Rock’s season starts on March 27, but given the organization has said they hope to have Bradford back in May, it seems more likely that Bradford would be placed on the 15 day injured list.