Rangers reliever finds out he made the team during surprising spring-training mound visit
Carter Baumler didn't expect to see his manager walk onto the field two batters into his appearance.
An MLB player never forgets where they were when they found out they were going to the big leagues. Getting that news is among the most memorable things to happen in a player’s career, and is often a life-changing moment. For Texas Rangers reliever Carter Baumler, his official “you’ve made the team” story is quite a bit more memorable than most.
Baumler received that news Monday … while he was on the mound pitching in an actual spring-training game. The moment occurred in the fifth inning of Monday’s game against the Kansas City Royals. After Baumler, 24, got two quick outs, the game was briefly paused due to a mound visit.
Since Baumler had not faced the required three-batter minimum, the reliever was surprised to see manager Skip Schumaker walking out on the field. Draft your Yahoo Fantasy Baseball team for the 2026 MLB Season While the broadcast couldn’t pick up on the conversation between Schumaker and Baumler, it quickly became clear what was happening. After a very quick exchange with Schumaker, Baumler smiled on the mound and then received mitt taps from his teammates as a sign of congratulations.
He was still pitching in a game, of course, so Baumler had to compose himself pretty quickly. He did just that, striking out Isaac Collins to end the inning. Once he made it back to the dugout, Baumler was pulled aside by the Rangers’ broadcast team, which believed it knew what just happened.