For Travis Jankowski, the text message was a bit out of blue. But, then again, he and Skip Schumaker go way back.
The former Texas Rangers outfielder played with Schumaker, now the Rangers’ manager, when the pair were in San Diego in 2016. Schumaker was at the tail end of his career. Jankowski was in the second year of his career. Both were in spring training. Schumaker retired shortly after camp began. But they had already bonded. They were players that had to fight on the margins to stay in the Majors.
So, when Schumaker called Jankowski shortly after he took over the Rangers’ job, it wasn’t a social call. It was business. But it wasn’t about Jankowski returning to play. It was about him returning to coach.
“[Schumaker] said, ‘Hey, would you ever want to get into coaching?’” Jankowski said. “I said, ‘Well, yeah that’s something I’ve thought about.’”
The courtship happened quickly. Jankowski will be the first base coach for the Rangers in 2026, meaning he’ll coach many of the players he was teammates with during the 2023 World Series season.
Travis Jankowski’s Path to Coaching
Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images
The text message led to a phone call between the pair. Jankowski said he told Schumaker that the first thing he had to do was determine if he was done playing. Gauging that would be the biggest determinant for the journeyman outfielder.
The 34-year-old spent last season on the edges. He played for three different teams — the Chicago White Sox, the Tampa Bay Rays and the New York Mets — but only a combined 25 MLB games. He asked his agent to check around. He told Jankowski that 2026 would probably be more of the same.
“[Jankowski’s agent] said, ‘If you want to do that, that’s great. But if there’s a big league opportunity for you to interview in coaching and you want to do coaching in the future, you don’t want to let this opportunity pass up because it might not be there next year,’” Jankowski said.
So, Jankowski interviewed. He’ll coach first base for the Rangers, with Corey Ragsdale, the team’s long-time first-base coach moving to third base. For Schumaker, there is comfort in having Jankowski on staff. But he also firmly believes this is just the first step for him.
“I’ve always thought in the back of my head when Travis does decide to retire, I always thought he would be just an incredibly impactful coach,” Schumaker said. “How he sees relationships and how he sees the game is very similar to me.”
Jankowski played just two years in Texas, but they were eventful. He made the team coming out of spring training in 2023 only because Leody Taveras was injured. Jankowski played his way into a fifth outfielder spot and played in 211 games over two seasons with a slash of .236/.318/.293 with just two home runs and 42 RBI. He was widely respected for his defense and during the 2023 World Series run he came to be known as “El Blondi” for his long, blonde hair, a take on Adolis Garcia’s ‘El Bombi’ nickname.
“I’m not calling him ‘El Blondi, so I don’t know where that whole thing is, but you guys can call him that,” Schumaker said with a grin. “I refuse to call him that.”
Jankowski said he’s looking forward to the stability of being in one place with his wife and four children and that played a part in his decision. But there was one other concern. He was teammates with many of the core players from the 2023 World Series team who are still in Texas. Can he coach players he was previously teammates and friends with?
After reflection, Jankowski sees that bond as a positive and not a negative. He saw himself as a mentor to the team’s younger players during his two seasons with the Rangers, such as outfielders Evan Carter and Wyatt Langford.
“That was definitely a concern of mine you know, Am I going to be able to relate to these guys as coach instead of just as a player now?” Jankowski said. “Then I was like, ‘Well shoot I’ve been kind of coaching for 2 1/2 years now. Now I just have a title.’”
Jankowski will return to Rangers spring training for the first time as a coach in February.
Leave a Reply