Ronald Guzman began 2019 as the Rangers starting first baseman. He had a good season on the bag, but he was not impressive at the plate. He’s coming off a two-year stretch in which he hit .229/.307/.415 with 25 home runs in 723 plate appearances. First base has to be better than that. Guzman worked hard over the winter trying to improve. We will see if he has come April.
The Rangers have not given up on Ronald Guzman, he still has a bunch of up side. Competition has now been brought in to help motivate him. The Rangers have brought in Greg Bird, who played for the Yankees. He has struggled with several injuries over the past few seasons. Injuries to his foot, shoulder, ankle and knee have frequently sidelined him over the past few seasons. In the time he was up with the Yankees, however, he looked promising. in 2015 he batted .261 with 11 home runs in 178 plate appearances. Injuries have held him to just 522 plate appearances since.
There is nothing wrong with competition. Also it is good to take a flyer on a guy that, when healthy, could potentially help your team win. Ronald Guzman would have to lose the job in spring training, or Bird would have to just blow all the other players away. I don’t think that is going to happen, but it is something to look out for in the 2020 spring training campaign.
My hope is that Guzman steps it up and is able to hit the ball better than he did in 2019 (.219 batting average). The Rangers are probably also hoping that Guzman steps it up and can hit in the .250 to .260 range. Do that as well as play stellar first base, and I don’t believe that Ronald Guzman has anything to worry about.
