Happy New Year.
Let’s go.
It’s that day.
That day when we have license to stop lamenting what’s past, to slow down on worrying about what’s ahead, and to settle in for what’s right-freakin’-now.
We, shortly, play ball. It’s among the most beautiful days.
(And, thankfully, not on Netflix.)
Before doing what I always do on this day, let me offer a quick look backward and then have a little fun looking ahead.
Maybe some of you were at Globe Life on Monday night, the first Texas Rangers home ballgame of 2026, even though it didn’t count.
It counted for one man. And if I may speak on your behalf, I think it ultimately counted for lots of us.
You know the custom: when the manager strolls out to the mound, you know what happens next probably 98 percent of the time. The pitching coach pays a visit: a discussion. The manager visits: the pitcher hands over the baseball, and the ballgame, for the next guy to handle.
Of that other two percent, I’d say 1.99 of it in Rangers memory is Wash engaging his pitcher in a stern, one-way conversation before returning alone to the dugout.
The remaining 0.01 percent: three nights ago, in the fifth inning.
Rule 5 newcomer Carter Baumler comes out of the bullpen, inheriting from fellow newcomer MacKenzie Gore a 2-0 lead that was provided offensively by fellow newcomer Brandon Nimmo.
Big leaguer Starling Marte grounds out to third base. Big leaguer Jonathan India grounds out to shortstop. Baumler has thrown seven pitches.
Skip Schumaker jumps out of the dugout. But Baumler hasn’t faced the minimum three batters, and nobody’s warming in the pen.
I hold my breath, expecting to see a trainer show up alongside Schumaker, walking with purpose in the same direction.
Nope.
The manager, a newcomer of sorts himself, climbs the hill. The big league catcher and the entire big league infield join him. If you weren’t watching in real time, watch this.
(Of course, if you were watching in real time, I guarantee you’re going to watch this.)
Go back if you need to and register the look on Baumler’s face for the first one or two seconds. And then what it changed to right after that. I suspect most of us knew in real time what had just gone down.
Schumaker delivered a decidedly not-stern message, though it was pretty much one-way in its own right, and returned alone to the dugout. Baumler proceeded to strike out big leaguer Isaac Collins on four pitches, the final one an elevated four-seamer that, at 96 mph, outclocked the 10 pitches that preceded it.
The next pitch Baumler throws will be in a major league game that counts.
Just awesome.
Now, let’s take a look at the 2026 Texas Rangers season and the 26 players who have been chosen to open it — and allow me to toss in some predictions of my own as far as each unit of the team, and the season itself, is concerned.
