Ronald Guzmán

Not to be confused with Ronald A. Guzman.
In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Guzmán and the second or maternal family name is Cepeda.
Ronald Guzmán
Guzmán with the Texas Rangers in 2018
Free agent
First baseman / Pitcher
Born: (1994-10-20) October 20, 1994 (age 30)
La Vega, Dominican Republic
Bats: Left
Throws: Left
MLB debut
April 13, 2018, for the Texas Rangers
MLB statistics
(through 2022 season)
Batting average.225
Home runs31
Runs batted in104
Stats at Baseball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Teams

Ronald Enmanuel Guzmán Cepeda (born October 20, 1994) is a Dominican professional baseball first baseman and pitcher who is a free agent. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers and New York Yankees.

Professional career

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Texas Rangers

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Minor leagues

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Guzmán signed with the Texas Rangers as an international free agent in 2011, along with Nomar Mazara.[1][2] He made his professional debut in 2012 with the Arizona League Rangers of the Rookie-level Arizona League.[3][4] He played for the Hickory Crawdads of the Single–A South Atlantic League in 2013, 2014 and at the start of 2015.[5][6] He finished 2015 with the High Desert Mavericks of the High–A California League and played in the Arizona Fall League after the season. In 2016, Guzmán played for the Frisco RoughRiders of the Double–A Texas League (102 games) and for the Round Rock Express of the Triple–A Pacific Coast League (25 games). He posted a combined stat line of .274/.333/.449/.782 with 16 home runs and 67 RBIs. In 2016 he was selected and appeared in the All-Star Futures Game.[7] On November 18, 2016, the Rangers added Guzmán to their 40-man roster to protect him from the Rule 5 draft.[8]

Guzmán spent the 2017 season with the Triple–A Round Rock Express, posting a stat line of .298/.372/.434/.806 with 12 home runs and 62 RBIs. After the 2017 season, the Rangers organization named him their 2017 Tom Grieve Player of the Year (minor league).[9] Guzmán returned to the Round Rock Express to start the 2018 season, playing in 5 games with them before being recalled to the major leagues for the first time.

Major leagues

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The Rangers promoted Guzmán to the major leagues on April 13, 2018.[10] He hit his first major league home run on April 14, 2018, to tie a game against the Houston Astros in the top of the eighth inning. On August 10, 2018, he became the first rookie to ever hit three home runs against the New York Yankees in the Bronx. It was his father's first time seeing his son play in a professional game.[11] Guzmán finished his rookie season with a .235/.306/.416/.722 batting line with 16 home runs and 58 RBIs in 123 games.

Coming out of spring training in 2019, Guzmán was named the Rangers' starting first baseman. However, he was placed on the 10-day injured list on April 7, 2019, with a right hamstring strain.[12] He was reactivated off the IL on May 9, starting at first base that night.[13] However, after posting a .193/.282/.396/.678 battling line during the first four months of the season, he was optioned to Triple-A Nashville on July 23.[14] After slashing an impressive .316/.409/.518/.927 batting line at Nashville, he was called up on September 1 to become the Rangers' everyday first baseman.[15] Guzmán would finish the 2019 season batting .219/.308/.414/.723 with 10 home runs and 36 RBIs in 87 games.

In 2020 for the Rangers, Guzmán appeared in 26 games, hitting .244/.314/.436 with four home runs and nine RBIs across 78 at-bats.[16] After the 2020 season, he played for Gigantes del Cibao of the Dominican Professional Baseball League(LIDOM). He has also played for Dominican Republic in the 2021 Caribbean Series.

On April 12, 2021, his first career start in left field and the outfield, Guzmán tore the meniscus in his right knee and was placed on the 10-day injured list the next day. He had been batting .063/.118/.250 in 17 plate appearances at the time of his injury.[17] On April 23, Guzmán underwent season-ending right knee surgery.[18] On April 26, he was placed on the 60-day injured list.[19] Guzmán was outrighted off of the 40-man roster on November 5,[20] and elected free agency the following day.

New York Yankees

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On March 13, 2022, Guzmán signed a minor league contract with the New York Yankees.[21] He played for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders and began the conversion into a pitcher.[22]

The Yankees promoted Guzmán to the major leagues on September 7.[23] On September 10, Guzmán was designated for assignment after going 0-for-6 with 5 strikeouts in limited action. He cleared waivers and was sent outright to Triple–A Scranton on September 12.[24] On October 24, Guzmán elected free agency.

San Francisco Giants

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On January 16, 2023, Guzmán signed a minor league contract with the San Francisco Giants.[25] On February 6, Guzmán was invited to Spring Training and announced as both a pitcher and infielder.[26] On March 14, it was announced that Guzmán would miss 6-8 weeks after suffering a pronator strain in his left forearm.[27] On August 20, Guzmán began a rehab assignment with the rookie–level Arizona Complex League Giants.[28] After three games, he was released by the Giants organization on August 26. [29]

Baltimore Orioles

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On January 25, 2024, Guzmán signed a minor league contract with the Baltimore Orioles.[30] In 8 games split between the rookie–level Florida Complex League Orioles and High–A Aberdeen IronBirds, he struggled to a 13.50 ERA with 11 strikeouts and one save across 7+1⁄3 innings pitched. Guzmán was released by the Orioles organization on October 5.[31]

Personal life

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In 2014, Guzman was home in the Dominican Republic driving his vehicle when he collided with a motorcycle. The crash resulted in the death of the driver of the motorcycle. Guzman did not face any charges from the incident, as the police determined that the motorcycle driver had failed to stop at an intersection.[32] Guzman has one daughter, named Charlotte.[11]

References

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  1. ^ "Rangers ink another 16-year-old; $3.5M bonus". July 9, 2011. Retrieved July 5, 2016.
  2. ^ Faulkner, Max (February 28, 2017). "Rangers prospect Guzman trying to follow in Mazara's large footsteps". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Retrieved December 18, 2023.
  3. ^ "Rangers prospect primer: 18-year-old Ronald Guzman could be on fast track to majors - SportsDay". January 23, 2013. Retrieved July 5, 2016.
  4. ^ "Prospects Ronald Guzman, Nomar Mazara are jewels for Rangers". MLB.com. Retrieved November 19, 2016.
  5. ^ "More mature prospect Guzman back in Texas Rangers' picture". Retrieved July 5, 2016.
  6. ^ "Crawdads' Guzman thriving in midst of career crossroad". April 27, 2015. Retrieved July 5, 2016.
  7. ^ "Ronald Guzman to play in Futures Game Sunday". milb.com. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
  8. ^ "Rangers do not protect heralded prospect Beras, add Joey Gallo's high school teammate - SportsDay". November 18, 2016. Retrieved November 19, 2016.
  9. ^ "Rangers Announce 2017 Minor League Awards Recipients". nbcdfw.com. January 16, 2018. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
  10. ^ Stevenson, Stefan (April 12, 2018). "'Very athletic' Rangers first-base prospect gets the call". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Retrieved December 18, 2023.
  11. ^ a b "From La Vega to the Bronx, Ronald Guzmán's family sees a historic night". theathletic.com. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
  12. ^ Morris, Adam (April 7, 2019). "Ronald Guzman to i.l., Patrick Wisdom up". Lone Star Ball. SB Nation. Retrieved April 7, 2019.
  13. ^ Morris, Adam (May 9, 2019). "Guzman activated, Kelley i.l.'d, Huang up". Lone Star Ball. SB Nation. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  14. ^ Morris, Adam (July 23, 2019). "Pedro Payano recalled, Ronald Guzman optioned". Lone Star Ball. SB Nation. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  15. ^ Jennings, Randy (September 1, 2019). "After 40 days in Nashville, Ronald Guzman was all smiles in return to the Rangers". Dallas News. Dallas Morning News. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  16. ^ "Detroit Tigers Trade Target: Ronald Guzman". December 23, 2020.
  17. ^ "Rangers Place Ronald Guzman On 10-Day IL, Select Adolis Garcia". MLB Trade Rumors. April 13, 2021.
  18. ^ "Ronald Guzman to Undergo Season-Ending Knee Surgery". April 23, 2021.
  19. ^ "Rangers Select Hyeon-Jong Yang, Option Leody Tavares". April 26, 2021.
  20. ^ "Terry, Guzman, Tejeda, Bush outrighted". November 5, 2021.
  21. ^ Polishuk, Mark (March 13, 2022). "Yankees Sign Ronald Guzman To Minors Contract". MLBTradeRumors.com. Retrieved March 14, 2022.
  22. ^ WRITER, CONOR FOLEY STAFF (August 5, 2022). "'Guzmáni:' Clocked at 96 mph, RailRiders slugger adding pitching to skillset". Scranton Times-Tribune.
  23. ^ "Yankees designate reliever for assignment to make room for Ronald Guzman". September 7, 2022.
  24. ^ "Yankees' Ronald Guzman: Clears waivers". cbssports.com. Retrieved June 17, 2023.
  25. ^ Goodman, Max (January 19, 2023). "Giants Sign Former Yankees First Baseman to Minor League Contract". Sports Illustrated NY Yankees News, Analysis and More. Retrieved January 21, 2023.
  26. ^ "Giants' Ronald Guzman: Will get chance to pitch in 2023". cbssports.com. Retrieved February 6, 2023.
  27. ^ "Giants' Ronald Guzman: Expects to miss 6-8 weeks". cbssports.com. Retrieved March 15, 2023.
  28. ^ "SF Giants: Former Rangers 1B turned hard-throwing lefty begins rehab assignment". si.com. August 21, 2023. Retrieved September 6, 2023.
  29. ^ "Transactions".
  30. ^ "Orioles' Ronald Guzman: Receives minors deal from Orioles". CBSSports.com. January 25, 2024. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
  31. ^ https://www.milb.com/transactions/2024-10-05
  32. ^ "MLB Rookie Profile: Ronald Guzman, 1B, Texas Rangers". minorleagueball.com. April 14, 2018. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
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