SURPRISE, Ariz. — When Ronald Guzman went home for the offseason, he was at something of a crossroads. He thought the Rangers might trade him — and that concern was increased when the team traded for his potential replacement.
He sat down with his personal hitting coach, someone who has worked with him since he was only 9 years old.
“I told him that I wanted to be more myself,” Guzman said. “And I wanted to forget all the things that I have been working on the last couple of years and just go back to the Ronald Guzman that when I was 15, 16 years old.”
Guzman is competing for a roster spot right now on this team. He’s out of minor league options, so he’s either going to make the team or his time with the organization will likely be over. Knowing that, he’s offered to take outfield reps to increase his versatility and value.
And he’s worked to improve his offense. The first tangible sign of that was an MVP award in the Dominican Winter League. Now he’s got to show he can do it in a Rangers uniform, and force the team so decide that he’s too good to let slip away.
“You’re talking about a guy that has the ability to be a starting caliber big league player,” said president of baseball operations Jon Daniels. “And I’d say he’s been extremely impressive here early on.”
It was Daniels that traded for Nate Lowe from the Rays in the offseason, and did so with the intention of him playing first base this season.
But Daniels also now sees a path for both players to make the team this season, if Guzman can showcase versatility. Guzman said if the question came up seven years ago, he’d have said his top choice position was outfield.
He needs the reps there and has started doing that during drills in camp. He played first base in the spring training opener on Sunday, but will be playing in the outfield as spring progresses.
“I played outfield my whole childhood,” Guzman said. “I feel pretty natural out there. It feels really weird. Home plate seems really far from me. I just feel like I just need repetitions to see how the ball goes off the bat.”
Beyond the defensive changes, Guzman spoke about changing his swing path, and controlling his big frame better at home plate. His stance is the same, he said. He said his mental approach has changed. Before, he wanted to hit the ball with his whole body, now he wants to get on top of the ball more often.
“He’s got a really good headspace right now,” said manager Chris Woodward. “I think this game is so difficult, especially for him. He’s got a lot of long levers, a lot to sync up with his swing... He’s maturing, I think that’s the biggest thing that I’m seeing.”
Guzman has been with the Rangers for three seasons. He’s hit 30 home runs in his 236 games and gotten on base at a .308 clip. He’s the kind of player that can hit a ball 500 feet but also not put up a slugging percentage — he’s .417 for his career — on par with the big boppers in the game.
When the Rangers traded for Lowe, Guzman said he didn’t have any reaction to that news. He was practicing in the Dominican Republic at the time, working on the homemade batting cage that he had built this year.
He thought there was a chance the team would trade him. But he felt if he did make it to this spring training, he would be ready to play and unfazed by the circumstances.
That seems to be how he’s handled it. He proactively asked the coaches to let him play outfield. And he’s shown in just a week that he’s going to, at the very least, make it a very difficult decision on whether or not he has a future with this team.
“I firmly believe that I’m going to be a different player this year,” Guzman said. “I’m going to be a different player from now on. I feel more mature, I feel my head’s in a different place. I have gone through a lot of things that have made me the player that I am right now.”
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March 01, 2021 at 07:07AM
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