Herndon Grad Guyer Seeks Return to Major Leagues

It would be hard to top the Major League debut of Brandon Guyer, a 2004 graduate of Herndon High School. But now Guyer is trying to get back to the Major Leagues and this time stick around a little longer. Guyer, 25, a top prospect in the Tampa Bay Rays' system, made his Major League debut May 6 and he hit a home run in his first at bat in a win against the Orioles in Baltimore.

"It was surreal," said Guyer, who attended games at Camden Yards as a young boy. "It worked out really good. A lot of my close friends and family were at the game." Since then he has received numerous text messages, many from people he had not heard from in a long time. He hit the homer off rookie Zach Britton and became the first player in Tampa Bay history to go deep in his first at bat in the big leagues.

Two days later he was sent back to the Durham (NC) Bulls, the top farm team of the Rays that plays in the Triple A International League.

Guyer, a right-handed hitting outfielder, began this season with Durham after he was traded to the Rays by the Chicago Cubs after the 2010 season. He was the No. 10 prospect in the Cubs' system, according to Baseball America, after he hit .344 last year at the Double A level with Tennessee in the Southern League to lead all minor leaguers in the Chicago system.

So was it hard to go back to the minors after making his big league debut?

"I can see how it would be like that," Guyer, an outfielder, said in an interview from his hotel room in Toledo during a recent road trip. "I am not letting it get like that. I am going about my business like before. I just need to stay consistent. That is the name of the game. Getting called up from Triple A to the big leagues is a big jump."

Guyer certainly seems to still be focused on getting back to the Major Leagues. He had three hits in three at bats, including a home run, and scored four times in a game at Toledo on May 26. In his first 148 at bats with Durham this season he hit .324 with eight homers and 26 RBIs. He had one hit, the homer, in three at at bats during his time with Tampa Bay this season.

Dave Myers, the hitting coach for Durham, has been impressed with Guyer. "He has been a good player for us," Myers said. "I think the Rays did a pretty good job in the trade, getting a player of his caliber. He fits in in the Rays' style of play and that he is athletic and he can play more than one position. He runs well, throws well. He has a good feel for the game and plays hard, all of the things we look for in our organization."

He was drafted in the sixth round out of Virginia by the Cubs in 2007 and the scout that helped sign him was Billy Swoope, who is based in Virginia. Swoope has signed several players from the mid-Atlantic region who have made the Major Leagues.

Guyer played at the University of Virginia and was teammates with Ryan Zimmerman, an All-Star third baseman with the Washington Nationals. He was part of the January trade that sent Tampa Bay pitcher Matt Garza to the Cubs.

"It is kind of bittersweet for me because I had made a lot of friends with the Cubs," said Guyer, who dislocated his shoulder while playing for Virginia in 2007. "You realize in baseball, it is a business. I was excited for (the trade) but at the same time was leaving people I knew."

Guyer learned of his promotion to Tampa Bay in May from Charlie Montoyo, the Durham manager, after a game in North Carolina. "He called me into his office. In my last at bat of the game I tried to bunt and hit it back to the pitcher. He told me not to get discouraged and keep doing what I was doing," Guyer said.

The next morning Guyer flew to Baltimore and headed to the team hotel in the Inner Harbor for about one hour before going to Camden Yards. Guyer said he took the spot of a pitcher when he was called up to the Major Leagues and the Rays needed another pitcher so he was sent back to Durham.

Guyer also played football at Herndon and he scored seven touchdowns in the homecoming game when he was a senior.

Guyer's father, Ray, who lives in Herndon, was at Baltimore when his son hit a homer in his first big league game. The elder Guyer played tennis in college at Rider in New Jersey. Another Herndon High grad who played in the Major Leagues is Bill Butler, who pitched for the Royals, Twins and Indians from 1969-77. Buter, who lives in West Virginia, was recently honored as part of the Herndon High all-century baseball team.