'Guzmáni:' Clocked at 96 mph, RailRiders slugger adding pitching to skillset
Aug. 5—MOOSIC — Just for fun, Ronald Guzmán took his turn atop the pitcher's mound.
The scoreboard radar gun was already active ahead of that day's alternate site activities, and some of the Texas Rangers' extra players were messing around a little.
So, the 6-foot-5 southpaw wound up and fired.
95.
Guzmán and his teammates went on to practice and play in an intrasquad game. When it was over, some coaches asked if he would throw some more pitches. At first, he didn't want to — he gave up pitching as a kid — but he relented and threw six more.
Three again lit up the gun at 95 mph. The other three hit 96.
Eventually, Guzmán returned to the major leagues in 2020 and spent most of 2021 rehabbing a knee injury. But seeing those numbers on the board stayed in the back of his mind. Could he maybe give pitching a shot?
The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders first baseman is about to find out.
For about two months now, the 27-year-old Guzmán has been pulling double duty, working out with the team's pitchers before games and then batting in the middle of the lineup and anchoring the infield defense during them. He's already progressed to throwing bullpens, where that fastball is still hitting 96. Guzmán hopes to be ready in time to appear in a game or two before the end of the season, though the RailRiders aren't committing to any sort of timeline.
"It's still very raw," catcher Rob Brantly said. "When it syncs up, it's elite."
Teammate Oswaldo Cabrera has asked for assurances that, should he have to face him in the future, Guzmán will walk him. Miguel Andújar gave him the nickname "Guzmáni," a nod to Los Angeles Angels standout Shohei Ohtani, the reigning American League MVP whose ability to pitch and slug continues to astound. Other pitchers are offering to help with mechanics or grips, but pitching coach Graham Johnson doesn't want to overload him with too much too quickly.
"I really believe I can do both," Guzmán said. "So, now that I've started doing pitching, I'm going to give it time. Obviously, if I'm good enough — I believe I'm good enough — that's the only question, if I'm going to be able to compete at a high level. I don't want to be just a mediocre pitcher that plays first. I want to be elite (at) pitching, elite defender and then pull some good at-bats and be an elite hitter, too."
Slow build
Growing up in the Dominican Republic, Guzmán's first love in baseball was pitching and his favorite player was Hall of Famer Randy Johnson. They were both left handed, and Guzmán thought he could ultimately wind up 6-foot-10 and throwing 100 mph just like his idol. His fandom, Guzmán said, also is a big reason why his little brother's name is Randy.
When he turned 11, his coach asked if he wanted to be a pitcher or a position player. Some things about pitching seemed a little boring to him, like only throwing one day per week and then running and playing catch the rest of the time. He liked moving around and playing the outfield and hitting too much. Guzmán asked that coach whether he could still hit if he pitched, the coach said no and so Guzmán continued as a batter.
It's worked out well, as he has more than three years of major league service time with the Texas Rangers. He's hit 31 homers up there, three coming in one game against the Yankees in the Bronx.
After those few pitches at the Rangers' alternate site, he worked a little bit more on pitching, but then was called up to the bigs and couldn't devote the time. Texas sent him a throwing program for the offseason and Guzmán planned to tackle it. Then, he put together an MVP-caliber campaign at the plate in the Dominican Winter League, so he decided to ride that momentum into spring training and try to win the Rangers' first base job out of camp. Seven games into the regular season, he injured his knee, had surgery and missed the rest of the year.
While he was out, he started to think more about pitching. He mentioned it to the Yankees before joining the organization on a minor league deal, but would need to find the right time to try it. The shortened spring training wasn't ideal, especially since he was finishing up his knee rehab. Once the minor league season got going and the RailRiders' wealth of position players meant limited at-bats for everyone, Guzmán saw an opportunity.
"It kind of was maybe discussed, kind of joked about and then it kind of became serious and it's like, 'All right, let's take at least a look at this and see if we can make it happen,'" Johnson said. "So far, the results are pretty promising on the mound. We've got a little bit of a road to hoe to get him out there and feel like he's physically good to go against hitters and also not putting himself at a distinct disadvantage from offensive production at the same time. So, it's definitely a delicate balance that we're trying to — it's a pretty small eye on that needle that we're trying to thread. But so far, so good."
These days, Guzmán's out early for stretching with pitchers. He'll throw one of the lighter weighted balls against the outfield wall at PNC Field and then play catch with the rest of them. It's not unusual for a reliever or two to come up with a suggestion on a grip, and Guzmán will question them about how they think about game situations or how they recuperate from that normal, midweek arm soreness.
While he appreciates everyone wanting to lend a hand, at this early stage, Johnson just wants Guzmán to be himself and rely as much on his athleticism as possible.
"I want him to throw in a way that feels comfortable, and then we can make small adjustments along the way," Johnson said. "He's done a pretty good job with that."
So far, so good
Guzmán threw his longest bullpen of the season, a 20-pitch session, Sunday morning in Rochester. He then had to play in the game in the afternoon — part of that balance he's going to have to strike.
At the plate, he's playing his best baseball of the season. That game in Rochester? After a quick pregame nap, he blasted a three-run homer and hit a sacrifice fly. He didn't start Thursday's game against Buffalo, but came in halfway through and launched a game-tying, two-run homer deep into the lawn. Since the start of July, he has a .379 batting average, a .655 slugging percentage and is getting on base at a .456 clip.
"To be honest, I think the pitching side has helped him," RailRiders hitting coach Trevor Amicone said. "He gets to spend a little bit less time worrying and stressing about his swing and a little bit more time worrying, stressing about his slider. That's a good thing for his hitting."
That slider sounds like his best secondary pitch so far. Brantly called it impressive when everything is synced up. Johnson said, when all is said and done, he thinks Guzmán will have two quality offspeed pitches in addition to that blistering fastball.
Windup-wise, it looks less slingy than Guzmán's required motion at first base, but with his 6-foot-5 frame, there's some funk to it.
"It definitely feels like it probably would not be comfortable, especially for a left-handed hitter, in terms of where his slot's coming from," Johnson said.
They're getting to the point where they can start diving deeper on mechanics, as they have a large enough sample size of Guzmán's throws. If they see he's tending to miss in one particular spot with a pitch, that can be corrected. They can help focus on a location to give him more breathing room. They can help him build on potential.
"It's one thing to throw 95," Johnson said, "but it very easily could've been that first pen and been like, 'OK, still not worth it even though it's 95.' That didn't happen, so very encouraged."
It's still a week-by-week, day-by-day journey, but Guzmán is embracing it.
"I told myself before I started doing this, I'm going to have to be here early doing my work, I'm going to have to play harder than everybody else," Guzmán said. "It's just something that I really like. I like to work hard. I like to go after challenges, and this is the biggest challenge of my career. I'm excited for it."
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