Ronald Guzmán
Ronald Enmanuel Guzmán Cepeda (born October 20, 1994) is a Dominican professional baseball first baseman in the New York Yankees organization. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers. Professional career. Minor leagues. Guzmán signed with the Texas Rangers as an international free agent in 2011, along with Nomar Mazara. He made his professional debut in 2012 with the Arizona League Rangers of the Rookie-level Arizona League. He played for the Hickory Crawdads of the Class A South Atlantic League in 2013, 2014 and at the start of 2015. He finished 2015 with  the High Desert Mavericks of the Class A-Advanced California League and played in the Arizona Fall League after the season. In 2016, Guzmán played for the Frisco RoughRiders of the Class AA Texas League (102 games) and for the Round Rock Express of the Class AAA Pacific Coast League (25 games). He posted a combined stat line of .274/.333/.449/.782 with 16 home runs and 67 RBI. In 2016 he was selected and appeared in the All-Star Futures Game. The Rangers added him to their 40-man roster after the 2016 season. Guzman spent the 2017 season with the  Round Rock Express, posting a stat line of .298/.372/.434/.806 with 12 home runs and 62 RBI. After the 2017 season, the Rangers organization named him their 2017 Tom Grieve Player of the Year (minor league). Guzman 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. Texas Rangers. The Rangers promoted Guzmán to the major leagues on April 13, 2018. 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 8th inning. On August 10, 2018, he became the first rookie to ever hit 3 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. Guzman finished his rookie season with a .235/.306/.416/.722 batting line with 16 home runs and 58 RBI in 123 games. Coming out of the 2019 Spring Training, 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. He was reactivated  off the IL on May 9, starting at first base that night. 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. 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. Guzmán would finish the 2019 season batting .219/.308/.414/.723 with 10 home runs and 36 RBI in 87 games. In 2020 for the Rangers, Guzman appeared in 26 games, hitting .244/.314/.436 with 4 home runs and 9 RBI across 78 at -bats. 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 suffered a meniscus cartilage tear 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. On April 23, Guzmán underwent season-ending right knee surgery. On April 26, he was placed on the 60-day  injured list. Guzman was outrighted off of the 40-man roster on November 5, 2021, and elected free agency the following day. New York Yankees. On March 13, 2022, Guzman signed a minor league contract with the New York Yankees. Personal life. 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. Guzman has one daughter , named Charlotte.