Not all mound visits involve bad news for pitchers, as Texas Rangers right-hander Carter Baumler learned during an exhibition appearance on Monday.
A 24-year-old journeyman minor leaguer, Baumler was facing the Kansas City Royals at Arlington’s Globe Life Field when Rangers manager Skip Schumacher emerged from the dugout during the fifth inning.
Although Baumler was looking strong after retiring the first two batters of the inning, he naturally assumed he was being pulled for another reliever.
But as seen in footage from the exhibition, Schumacher’s mound visit appeared somewhat pleasant. The Rangers infielders gathered around and began smiling before patting Baumler on the back as Schumacher made his departure back to the dugout.
‘You get the sense that he just let him know some pretty good news,’ one of the Rangers announcer said as Baumler remained in the game.
Baumler then got Isaac Collins to strike out swinging to retire the side.
Rangers manager Skip Schumacher gets a smile out of pitcher Carter Baumler by telling the 24-year-old journeyman that he made Texas’ opening day roster
A fifth-round pick by the Orioles in 2020, Baumler has bounced around the minors and was recently traded by the Pirates to the Rangers after going to Pittsburgh in the Rule 5 Draft
He would ultimately get pulled by Schumacher before the sixth, freeing up Baumler to do an in-game interview.
‘I wasn’t expecting it,’ Baumer told the Rangers broadcast booth. ‘He got on the mound and told me I made the team. It was pretty cool.
‘Honestly, I thought I was getting taken out of the game. I didn’t know what was going on. He just came up and told me I made the team and everybody say congratulations. What a special way. It caught me totally off guard and was totally cool.’
A fifth-round pick by the Baltimore Orioles in 2020, Baumler has bounced around the minors and was recently traded by the Pirates organization to the Rangers after going to Pittsburgh in the Rule 5 Draft.
Since then, the Iowa native has impressed, pitching 9.1 scoreless innings during spring training while striking out 10 batters.
‘A few years ago, I never expected this,’ Baumler said. ‘Looking back, I am glad I kept my head down and kept hammering. I went through a lot of hard times the last few years, so this is pretty cool, pretty special.’
