Chris McGuiness

Christopher Ryan McGuiness

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 1", Weight 210 lb.
• School The Citadel
• High School James Island Charter High School
• Debut June 7, 2013
• Final Game June 17, 2013
• Born April 11, 1988 in Charleston, SC USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Chris McGuiness was Arizona League MVP in 2012.

Amateur Career

McGuiness hit .365 with 10 home runs as a high school senior. As a freshman in college, he batted .252/.350/.383 and had a 3-2, 5.84 record on the mound. His sophomore season, he was 0-3 with a 6.97 ERA and hit .276/.413/.485 with 42 BB and 10 HR in 55 games. He tied for 6th in the Southern Conference in walks. McGuiness took even bigger strides as a junior, producing at a .367/.525/.667 clip with 65 walks (to 22 strikeouts), 55 runs, 59 RBI and 15 home runs in 59 contests. He was 9th in the Southern Conference in slugging, 4th in OBP and first in walks (by 12). He made All-Conference at 1B.

Red Sox system

The Boston Red Sox took McGuiness in the 13th round of the 2009 amateur draft. The scout was Quincy Boyd. McGuiness spent most of the summer with the Lowell Spinners, hitting .255/.374/.434 with 38 RBI, 36 walks and 17 doubles in 54 games; he was also 3 for 20 with a homer and three walks for the Greenville Drive. He set a Lowell record with extra-base hits six straight games. He just missed the New York-Penn League top 10 in RBI, walks and doubles. He began 2010 with Greenville and was doing very well (.298/.416/.504, 53 BB, 12 HR, 46 RBI in 78 G) when he was dealt with Roman Mendez and Michael Thomas and cash to the Texas Rangers for Jarrod Saltalamacchia at the trading deadline.

Rangers farmhand

Assigned to the Bakersfield Blaze after the trade, McGuiness hit .250/.381/.450 with 24 walks, 22 RBI and 7 home runs in 34 games to finish the year with 19 home runs and 77 walks. He was moved up to the AA Frisco RoughRiders for the postseason. 2011 was a rough year, as he missed time with oblique, back and knee injuries, struggling in his limited time with the Myrtle Beach Pelicans (.214/.320/.296 in 53 G) and AZL Rangers (1 for 5, HR, BB).

Chris hit .268/.366/.474 with 23 home runs, 69 walks and 77 RBI for Frisco. He was among the Texas League leaders in walks (4th), home runs (tied for 4th with Oscar Taveras, trailing Mike Olt, Cody Decker and Nate Freiman), RBI (7th) and OPS (8th). Freiman was named the league's All-Star first baseman. In the Rangers chain, he was third in homers (behind Olt and Brad Nelson) and 5th in RBI and walks. He then starred in the Arizona Fall League, hitting .283/.370/.468 with 27 RBI in 25 games; he led the AFL in RBI and was named MVP.

Major Leagues

The Cleveland Indians took McGuiness 5th overall in the 2012 Rule V Draft, the first position player chosen after pitchers Josh Fields, Hector Rondon, Daniel Rosenbaum and Ryan Pressly. However, he failed to make the team out of spring training in 2013 and was returned to the Rangers. He began the year in AAA for the first time, with the Round Rock Express, where he hit .275/.382/.477 in 55 games. He was called up to Texas on June 7th when Mitch Moreland went on the disabled list and made his debut the same day. Starting at first base and batting 8th against the Toronto Blue Jays, he went 0 for 3 with a strikeout in a 6-1 loss. Two days later, he got his first career hit, an RBI double off Josh Johnson. He only played 10 games for the Rangers, going 6 for 34 (.176) with a single RBI. With Round Rock, he finished the season with 104 games played, 29 doubles and 11 homers in addition to a batting line of .246/.349/.423. He scored 52 runs and drove in 63. On December 30th, he was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates in return for reliever Miles Mikolas.

Sources

• 2013 Indians Media Guide
• 2012 Rangers Media Guide
• The Citadel
• The Baseball Cube

Related Sites

• Chris McGuiness on mlb.com
• BR minors page