The 2026 Texas Rangers Opening Day roster appears to be set after the announcements made by the club last night. The 26 players who will start the season on the active roster are as follows:
Rotation
Nathan Eovaldi
Jacob deGrom
MacKenzie Gore
Jack Leiter
Kumar Rocker
Bullpen
Chris Martin
Robert Garcia
Jakob Junis
Jalen Beeks
Cole Winn
Tyler Alexander
Jacob Latz
Carter Baumler
Catcher
Danny Jansen
Kyle Higashioka
Infielders
Jake Burger
Josh Smith
Corey Seager
Josh Jung
Ezequiel Duran
Outfielder
Wyatt Langford
Evan Carter
Brandon
Nimmo
Sam Haggerty
DH
Joc Pederson
Andrew McCutchen
This was more or less what we would have expected two weeks ago, with the only real questions being whether Kumar Rocker or Jacob Latz would be the team’s fifth starter, and who would get the final two spots in the bullpen.
The team announced prior to last night’s game that Rocker would be the fifth starter, Latz would be in the bullpen, and McCutchen and Duran would round out the position player group.
We wondered at the time why there was no announcement as to who the final spot in the bullpen was going to. Rule 5 pick Carter Baumler had an excellent spring, and seemed to have earned a job, but there was no announcement as to whether he would be making the squad, or if it would be someone else.
As it turns out, that’s because the team was doing something special with Baumler, who came into last night’s exhibition game to start the fifth inning. After recording the first two outs of the inning, manager Skip Schumaker came out to the mound, along with catcher Danny Jansen and the infielders. Schumaker told Baumler then that he had made the team:
A pretty neat moment for Baumler, a 2020 5th round pick of the Baltimore Orioles who due to injuries had pitched just 88 innings over 49 appearances, with just six games above A ball, prior to the Rangers acquiring him as a Rule 5 selection this winter. Baumler understandably got a little emotional talking about it during the broadcast.
Procedurally, the Rangers will need to place Cody Freeman and Cody Bradford on the injured list before Thursday’s season opener in Philadelphia, and will need to create a 40 man roster spot for Andrew McCutchen. Its possible Bradford will go on the 60 day injured list, but he is expected to start a rehab assignment soon after Round Rock’s season starts on March 27, but given the organization has said they hope to have Bradford back in May, it seems more likely that Bradford would be placed on the 15 day injured list. Dairon Blanco and Michel Otanez would appear to be the guys on the 40 man bubble.
