Texas Rangers pitcher Carter Baumler told midgame he made Opening Day roster

Opening Day for the 2026 Major League Baseball season is quickly approaching. As the seasoned stars are gearing up for another season, prospects are finding out whether they made the cut or not.

Rosters were finalized Monday and the Texas Rangers let one of their players know he made the team in the best way possible.

Carter Baumler, a 24-year-old right-handed pitcher who stands 6-foot-2, was on the mound in the bottom of the fifth inning after throwing his seventh pitch of the game when the rookie got the news that he wasn’t coming out of the game but instead that he’d be playing in future games as a member of the team.

Rangers manager Skip Schumaker used a mound visit to inform Baumler that he made the Opening Day roster.

“I wasn’t expecting it. I was like, ‘why is he coming out here?’ And he got on the mound and told me I made the team. So, yeah, pretty cool,” Baumler said. “I mean, honestly, I thought I was like, getting taken out of the game. I didn’t know what was going on. Obviously, whenever the manager comes out, like, you know, you’re usually done. So, yeah, he just came up and told me, I made the team, and everybody just, you know, kind of said, congrats. And, I mean, what a special way, like, I caught me totally off guard, so it was pretty cool.”

In eight spring training games, Baumler has registered a win with 132 pitches thrown in 9.1 innings. He has 10 strikeouts and allowed four hits and a run. According to MLB, 65% of his pitches are strikes.

Baumler was emotional following the news delivered by Schumaker. He was overwhelmed with joy to think about officially being a big leaguer.

“[I] went through a lot of hard times over the last, like, few years. [It’s] pretty cool, pretty special,” Baumler said. “You know, like a few years ago, I never would have expected this. You know, looking back, it’s just I’m glad kept my head down and kept hammering away.”