Rangers ALERT: Guzmán Out For Season, Top Prospect Suffers Major Setback
The Texas Rangers have lost yet another player for the remainder of the 2021 season.
General manager Chris Young announced on Friday that Ronald Guzmán will undergo knee surgery to repair his torn meniscus. Guzmán suffered the injury in the first inning of their April 12 contest with the Rays in Tampa Bay.
In addition, catching prospect Sam Huff will have to undergo surgery to remove a "loose body" in his right knee. He tweaked his knee while working in the batting cage in Arizona. The prognosis for Huff is eight weeks until he can DH. However, his timetable for squatting behind the plate again is far more murky.
"It's certainly a setback for Sam," Young said. "We're disappointed, but all things considered, we're happy it's just a scope. We expect him to make a full recovery with really no long-term impact to his career."
Huff was in the latter stages of rehabbing from a hamstring injury suffered early in spring training.
Both Guzmán and Huff will have their surgeries next Wednesday in Arlington. William Robertson from TMI will perform Guzmán's surgery. Rangers team physician Dr. Keith Meister will perform Huff's procedure.
As far as the future of both players with the Rangers, it's still far too early to tell. Young mentioned any conversations about Guzmán's future with the club haven't been had yet. The Rangers have club control over him through 2024, but he is out of minor league options.
With Huff, the Rangers still view him as a catcher. Young stressed that they wanted to at least wait until after the surgery to begin discussions on his immediate future and how he figures into the 2021 big league team, or if he does at all. They also want to wait until after the surgery and how he progresses to see if he'll even be able to catch at all for the remainder of the season.
Other Rangers Injuries
- Khris Davis is playing in games out in Arizona as he nears the end of rehabbing his quad injury. The Rangers expect him to "likely" get to the alternate training site at some point soon.
- Demarcus Evans (lat) and Brock Burke (shoulder) are both participating fully in games and are on schedule with their programs.
- Josh Jung had a follow-up X-ray on his foot last week, with everything looking "really good." Chris Young confirmed the timeline remains the same with Jung, which would put him in minor league games near the end of May or beginning of June.
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Chris Halicke covers the Texas Rangers for SI's InsideTheRangers.com. Follow him on Twitter @ChrisHalicke.
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