The reason Rangers’ Skip Schumaker is not managing Thursday’s game vs. Astros

The Texas Rangers will be without their manager on Thursday night against the Houston Astros. Skip Schumaker is reportedly missing the game to attend his son’s high school graduation, according to Jeff Wilson of DLLS Sports.

“Skip Schumaker will not be at tonight’s #Rangers game. Instead, he is attending his son’s high school graduation in California. Brody Schumaker is committed to play next season for @TCU_Baseball,” Wilson reported on X, formerly Twitter.

Wilson also reported that bench coach Luis Urueta will be the acting manager on Thursday night.

The Rangers have had some good moments during Schumaker’s first season as manager. Overall, though, the season has been mediocre for the team. Injuries have impacted the Rangers, but underperformance has been a concern as well.

Texas is 25-30 overall so far in 2026. The Rangers are in third place in the American League West standings, where they trail the Seattle Mariners by two games. Texas is 1.5 games behind the Athletics for second place in the division. As for the Astros, Houston is 25-32 and in fourth place in the AL West.

The Rangers can certainly still make a competitive run, but they need to develop more consistency overall. Schumaker will do everything he can to help the team. However, the Rangers will attempt to earn a victory without Schumaker on Thursday.

First pitch for the Rangers and Astros game is scheduled for 8:05 PM EST in Arlington, TX. Houston currently leads the series 2-1, so Texas is hoping to avoid losing the series on Thursday night.

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