Arizona’s Adonys Guzman Becomes Latest Catcher Drafted

After Austin Wells was a first-round pick in the 2020 MLB Draft and Daniel Susac went in round one in the 2022 MLB Draft, Adonys Guzman added onto the recent success Arizona has had in producing talent behind the plate from Tucson to the MLB after going in round five on Monday in this year’s draft. 

Guzman began his collegiate career with Boston College. In that one year, he hit .239 with seven RBI across 22 games played (19 starts). 

Guzman spent his final two collegiate seasons with Arizona. In his first year in Tucson, he hit .265 across 39 games (37 starts) with one home run and 17 RBI in a part-time role. He also made two starts in the postseason that year where he did not collect a hit, but drew three walks.

In his second season with the Wildcats, Guzman exploded onto the scene with Arizona to the tune of a team-high .328 batting average with nine home runs and 44 RBI. His success carried into the postseason where he hit .439 as well as going 5-for-9 at the plate in the Wildcats two College World Series games. In Arizona’s final loss against Louisville, Guzman drove in a run with a single in the opening frame and later crushed a solo home run in the third inning. 

He will be heading to Pittsburgh to join the Pirates farm system. Per their MLB Pipeline prospect rankings, their top catching prospect is Omar Alfonzo who is No. 19 in their farm system and currently playing in Double-A. He was recently promoted earlier in July and has been in the system since 2019 when he signed a minor league contract with the Pirates. 

In the majors, Henry Davis and Joey Bart lead the way behind the plate for the Pirates. Davis went No. 1 overall to Pittsburgh in 2021, while Bart is a former top prospect of the Giants after being drafted No. 2 overall in the 2018 MLB Draft. He was traded to Pittsburgh in April of last year. 

Wells worked his way up to the majors in the Yankees farm system to now being their every day starting catcher. He is hitting .226 with 14 home runs and 53 RBI across 257 plate appearances so far this season. He’s off to a strong start in July, hitting .321 with three home runs across eight games. 

Susac currently sits as the No. 9 prospect in the MLB Pipeline prospect rankings for the Athletics as the top catcher in their farm system. He is hitting .285 with 11 home runs and 47 RBI for Triple-A Las Vegas this season and projects to potentially be called up to make his MLB debut at any point this season. 

Guzman will look to work his way up the Pirates farm system and follow them as Arizona’s next catcher to reach the majors. 

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