After Texas Rangers pitcher Carter Baumler retired the first two hitters in the top of the fifth inning of their spring training game against the Kansas City Royals on March 23, manager Skip Schumaker came to the mound for an unexpected visit. Baumler, a native of Urbandale and a graduate of Dowling Catholic, had been battling for a spot on the team and figured Schumaker was coming to tell him his night was over.
“I thought it was just situational—they wanted somebody else to get in for whatever reason,” Baumler said in a phone interview with The Des Moines Register after the game. “I didn’t know what to expect.”
Schumaker wasn’t going to take Baumler out of the game. No, he was coming to inform his 24-year-old pitcher of some good news. Baumler, a former standout for the Maroons who has battled injury after injury during his professional career, was told during the mound visit he was breaking camp with the Rangers and making the team. He’ll be in a big league uniform for the first time in his career when the Rangers open the season on March 26 at Philadelphia.
“Pretty cool,” Baumler said. “I have just gone through a lot of injuries and things in the past. I finally had my first fully healthy season and that helps kind of put a lot of confidence in me to get it done this year and put myself in a good spot to make the team.”
Baumler, who smiled and laughed on the mound as he got the news surrounded by teammates, quickly turned into a viral superstar with video of him learning about the promotion getting spread throughout social media. He didn’t even know how big the moment had become till later.
“My mom said there’s a bunch of views on Twitter and I literally haven’t even looked yet,” Baumler said.
It was a big occasion and a long-awaited moment. Baumler, a hard-throwing right-hander out of high school, was selected by the Baltimore Orioles in the fifth round of the 2020 draft.
The young hurler passed on playing baseball at TCU, instead opting to sign with the Orioles. He became a pitching prospect who had trouble getting on the mound. Baumler missed the entire 2021 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery. He dealt with a shoulder issue from 2022-23.
The injury issues limited him to just 49 games from 2022-25. But when Baumler was healthy, he was successful, logging a 7-1 record with a 3.05 ERA with 104 strikeouts in 88.2 innings of work in the minor leagues. All the injuries took a toll on Baumler.
“I’ve always just known that if I could get healthy and stay on the field, I knew this was in my future,” Baumler said. “But it was really tough. There was a period where I didn’t know if it was going to work. Injuries, year after year and not throwing very many innings and whatnot, it started to daunt on me a little bit. But I kind of put all my eggs in one basket and just started giving it everything.”
It paid off for Baumler who, despite a strong showing in 2025, wasn’t put on the 40-man roster by the Orioles and went unprotected during the offseason. The Pittsburgh Pirates selected him in the Rule 5 Draft and traded him to the Rangers.
Players picked in the Rule 5 Draft have to be placed on a big-league roster or the team risks losing them. Baumler made the decision easy for the Rangers, going 1-0 with 10 strikeouts and just two walks across 9.1 innings of work. The Iowan didn’t allow a single earned run.
Perhaps the most challenging out came on Monday night. After getting the news and becoming a special story on the internet, Baumler still had to retire one more hitter to finish the night.
“I threw a ball first pitch and then locked it back in,” Baumler said.
Baumler worked a perfect inning of relief to complete the special evening. There’s still tons of work to do for Baumler, who not only wanted to make the team but stick with the Rangers and help them compete.
“I’m pumped,” Baumler said. “I want to help this team win too. We have a great team. I think an underrated team. I think a lot of people have kind of written us off a little bit just based on last year. There’s so much talent in the locker room. I want to help the team win.
“I don’t know what else to say other than, God’s good and he’s blessed me. I look back and it’s like, yeah wow, such a blessing.”
Tommy Birch, the Register’s sports enterprise and features reporter, has been working at the newspaper since 2008. He’s the 2018, 2020, 2023 and 2025 Iowa Sportswriter of the Year. Reach him at tbirch@dmreg.com or 515-284-8468.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: The touching moment Iowan Carter Baumler became a big leaguer
Reporting by Tommy Birch, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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