ARLINGTON — Carter Baumler thought he was coming out of the game when he saw Texas Rangers manager Skip Schumaker making his way out of the dugout. Instead, the pitcher got a memory of a lifetime that he was able to share with his parents even though they were watching on television about 1,200 miles away.
Schumaker made the mound visit during a spring training game Monday night just to tell the 24-year-old rookie right-hander, who has never pitched above the Double-A level, that he is going to start this season in the big leagues.
"I'm just so grateful that Skip did it that way," Baumler said Tuesday, before the Rangers played their final spring training game ahead of Thursday's season opener in Philadelphia . "I couldn't have dreamed of another or a better way to, you know, have that happen."
While catcher Danny Jansen and all four infielders also were unsure what was happening when Schumaker emerged from the dugout after two quick outs against the Kansas City Royals , it quickly became apparent by their reactions when gathered on the mound what the new Rangers manager had told Baumler. The pitcher also broke into a wide smile, then composed himself enough to strike out the next batter on a 96.8 mph fastball to end the fifth inning.
His parents were watching the Rangers Sports Network broadcast at home in Des Moines, Iowa, and they realized pretty quickly what was happening. They got confirmation soon after when Baumler was doing an in-game interview from the dugout.
"They were tearing up a little bit," Baumler said. "Just a cool moment for like, you know, myself and the family and extended family."
While Schumaker was only trying to make the moment as memorable as he could for Baumler, he also created a viral one on social media.
Like Baumler, Schumaker heard from family and friends. Among those reaching out to the manager was Denny Sheaffer, who was the Triple-A manager for Memphis when he pulled Schumaker out of a game in June 2005 to tell the outfielder that he was being called up by the St. Louis Cardinals for his big league debut.
"He shot me a text talking about that first call-up," Schumaker said Tuesday. "I remember everything about it, so you try to make it as memorable. ... I'm just really happy his parents got to see it."
Rangers shortstop Corey Seager , a two-time World Series MVP, said umpires were yelling at Schumaker thinking that he was trying to remove the pitcher before facing the required minimum three batters.
"That's for sure cool. I mean, I've never seen that before," Seager said of how Schumaker shared the news. "What an awesome way. ... A little moment like that, it was a big moment for the whole team."
Jansen patted his catcher's mitt on Baumler's chest and the infielders offered their congratulations before he finished the inning. In his eight spring training games, Baumler allowed one unearned run and struck out 10 over 9 1/3 innings.
Baumler hugged Schumaker when he got back to the dugout after the third out, then was greeted by boisterous high-fives from teammates.
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.
Now Baumler, whose brother pitches at nearby TCU, is in the big leagues.
"That's what I've been thinking about the whole spring. Just making the team has never only been on my mind," Baumler said. "I've got other goals and aspirations past just making a big league team. So yeah, I want to be able to help the team."
