Best mound visit of Baumler's life -- finding out he's a Major Leaguer!

ARLINGTON -- Every player dreams of that moment when he finds out he’s officially headed to The Show. The life-changing news often comes via a postgame visit to a Minor League manager’s office, or a phone call from big league staff. Every year, one way or another, hundreds of players are given the good news.

But not many find out the way Rangers reliever Carter Baumler did Monday night -- on the mound, between batters, in the middle of an inning he just happened to be pitching. Manager Skip Schumaker picked an unorthodox time to stage a mound visit -- Baumler hadn’t yet faced the minimum three batters, both of whom he had swiftly retired -- and Baumler admitted he had no idea what Schumaker was about to say to him.

“Somebody said, ‘I wish I got a picture of you when you turned around and saw him,’” Baumler said. “Most of the time you see the manager come out, [it’s] like, ‘OK, you’re out of the game.’ I turned around, I saw him, I was just caught off guard and didn’t know what was going to happen. And then he told me that and it was just a really cool moment. I’m definitely not going to forget that.”

The Rangers traded for Baumler in the offseason after the Pirates picked him in the Rule 5 Draft. That meant the Rangers had to put the 24-year-old on the Opening Day roster -- and stow him there for the entire season -- to keep him in the organization. Once the decision had been made, Schumaker came up with a creative way to hand out the promotion. The chance came in the fifth inning of Monday’s 3-2 win over the Royals at Globe Life Field.

“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 induced groundouts from the first two batters he faced, Starling Marte and Jonathan India, before Schumacher suddenly sprung from the dugout steps. The Rangers’ infielders converged and Schumaker broke the good news to Baumler -- to a visit then filled with laughs and smiles. The Rangers’ television broadcast noticed, and quickly grabbed Baumler for an in-game interview to confirm. A momentous event that always takes place behind closed doors happened out in the open this time.

“I'm glad I could share it with other people, and especially out on the mound with [teammates],” Baumler said. “That was just a really cool moment. And it was also really cool, too, that my family was watching, so they got to see it on TV.”

Baumler then composed himself and struck out Isaac Collins for about as perfect an inning as any MLB hopeful ever had.

“I feel like I kind of locked back in pretty quick,” Baumler said. “It definitely was exciting.”

Baumler did not allow a run in 9 1/3 innings over eight Cactus League appearances for the Rangers this spring, striking out 10 and walking two. At three levels in Baltimore’s farm system last season, Baumler ​​posted a combined 2.04 ERA in 39 2/3 innings.