Texas Rangers: Playing the “what if” game with the 2021 season

Texas Rangers “What if” 2: What if Ronald Guzman didn’t injure his knee?

This one is two-fold.

First, Guzman was having an incredible spring, pushing Nathaniel Lowe to the brink of competition at the first base position. It was a valiant effort coming off a Dominican Winter League MVP.

So losing Guzy to a brutal knee injury in April against the Rays in Tampa was a massive blow from that standpoint. It sucked to see him go down in the fashion he did, and especially after the work he had put in to make the team.

But the 26-year-old’s injury had a silver lining: the emergence of Adolis Garcia as a rookie sensation.

Garcia, known as “El Bombi”, was a lightning rod in May, winning AL Rookie of the Month. He made the All-Star team this past July and is on pace to become the most prolific first-year player in Texas Rangers history. Talk about making the most of an opportunity.

Granted, this chance had to come at the expense of Ronald Guzman‘s injury, and we hate to see that. But perhaps we never would’ve known the legend of “El Bombi” had Guzy stayed healthy.