This Skip Schumaker Mound Visit Was the Most Heartwarming Moment of Spring Training

Carter Baumler gets some good news. | @MLB

MLB spring training is wrapping up this week and with the regular season about to start teams are making their final roster decisions before opening day. That means some players are having their hearts broken and being sent back to the minor leagues, but there are also a select few getting the best news of their lives. On Monday night Rangers pitcher Carter Baumler got that good news in an unexpected place.

Baumler had just induced two ground ball outs to start the top of the fifth inning when manager Skip Schumaker called timeout and walked out to the mound. As catcher Danny Jansen and the infielders surrounded a confused Baumler, he was informed that he had made the opening day roster and would officially become a big leaguer.

It was an awesome moment that his teammates clearly enjoyed being a part of. After Baumler finished the inning by striking out Isaac Collins he was interviewed on the broadcast by Rangers Sport Network's Laura Stickells. Baumler said he was completely surprised by the news and thought he might have been getting pulled from the game. Then asked what it meant to him, Baumler's voice cracked as he tried to put it into words.

A moment Carter Baumler will never forget ❤️ https://t.co/nHbWT8XFFd pic.twitter.com/klv5EePo9l

— MLB (@MLB) March 24, 2026

"I went through a lot of hard times over the last few years," Baumler told Stickells. "Pretty cool. Pretty special.”

"You know, like a few years ago I never would have expected this," he continued. "You know, looking back it's just... I'm glad I kept my head down and kept hammering away so... yeah."

After the game Schumaker explained the decision to tell him on the mound and why he knew it was so important. Via MLB:

“You want to make it as memorable as you can,” Schumaker said. “I’ll never forget when I got called up -- the exact moment, the exact game, in Memphis, Tennessee. ... It was just like the most amazing time. I was just trying to think of a special way to tell him.”

Baumler has taken quite the road to get to the majors. He was drafted by the Orioles in 2020, but there was no minor league season because of the pandemic. Then he tore his UCL and had to undergo Tommy John surgery so he missed the 2021 minor league season as well. He didn't make his professional debut until 2022 and then bounced around the Orioles’ farm system for four years before finally reaching AA for the first time last year.

The Pirates took Baumler in the Rule 5 draft in December and immediately traded him to the Rangers. Finally given an opportunity, Baumler was lights out this spring, throwing 9 1/3 innings over eight games without giving up a run. He struck out 10 and walked just two. And now he's a Major League Baseball player.

And we all got to see him get that life-changing news.

The Rangers finish their spring schedule on Tuesday and then start the 2026 season on the road in Philadelphia on Thursday. Baumler will be available out of the bullpen.

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