Lourdes Yunielki Gurriel Castillo Jr. (born October 10, 1993) is a Cuban

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

left fielder In baseball, a left fielder, abbreviated LF, is an outfielder who plays defense in left field. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the numbering system ...

for the

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

where he debuted in 2018. He played for Sancti Spíritus and the Industriales of the

Cuban National Series The Cuban National Series (, SNB) is the primary domestic professional baseball competition in Cuba. Formed after the dissolution of the Cuban League in the wake of the Cuban Revolution, the Series is a part of the Cuban baseball league system. ...

before defecting from Cuba. Gurriel was ranked as one of the top international prospects available following his defection.

Professional career

Cuban National Series

Gurriel debuted in the

with Sancti Spíritus in 2010 as a 16-year-old. Used as a pinch hitter, Gurriel batted .200 in 15 at bats over 16 games. The following season, Gurriel appeared in 55 games and batted .227 with three

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s and 16

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the ba ...

(RBI). In his final season with Sancti Spíritus, Gurriel hit .253 with four home runs and 32 RBI in 67 games. In 2013 Gurriel joined the Industriales, playing 45 games and hitting .218 with one home run and 17 RBI. Prior to the start of the 2014 season, Gurriel represented Cuba at the 2014 Central American and Caribbean Games, earning the gold medal. He appeared in 63 games in 2014 and greatly improved upon his 2013 campaign, batting .308 with eight home runs and 42 RBI. With the Industriales in 2015, Gurriel hit .344 with 10 home runs and 53 RBI. After the Cuban League season, Gurriel agreed to a contract with the Yokohama DeNA BayStars of

Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formation ...

(NPB), but did not appear in any games for the team and was placed on the restricted list. In February 2016, Gurriel and his brother Yulieski defected after competing in the Caribbean Series in the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...

Toronto Blue Jays

In August 2016, Gurriel was declared a free agent by

(MLB), and ranked as the sixth best international prospect available. In September, he held a showcase of his skills at Rod Carew Stadium in

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

that was attended by 60 MLB scouts. On November 12, Gurriel signed a seven-year, $22 million contract with the

. Gurriel took part in spring training with the Blue Jays, and was assigned to the Dunedin Blue Jays of the Advanced-A Florida State League on March 17, 2017. Gurriel began the season on the disabled list with a leg injury. He made his minor league debut on April 18, but left the game with a recurrence of the same injury. On July 12, Gurriel was promoted to the

New Hampshire Fisher Cats The New Hampshire Fisher Cats are a Minor League Baseball team based in Manchester, New Hampshire. The team, which plays in the Eastern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays major league club. During the team's first seaso ...

of the Double-A Eastern League after appearing in 18 games for Dunedin. In total, Gurriel played in 64 games in 2017 and hit .229 with five home runs and 36 RBI. He played for the

Peoria Javelinas The Peoria Javelinas are a baseball team that plays in the West Division of the Arizona Fall League. The Javelinas play their home games in the Peoria Sports Complex in Peoria, Arizona. The ballpark is also the spring training facility for the S ...

of the

Arizona Fall League The Arizona Fall League (AFL) is an off-season sports league owned and operated by Major League Baseball (MLB) which operates during the autumn in Arizona, United States, at six different baseball complexes. Arizona Fall League rosters are fille ...

(AFL) during the offseason. Gurriel began the 2018 season with New Hampshire. He batted .347 in 12 games, and was promoted to the major leagues on April 20. In his debut that night, Gurriel recorded two singles and three RBI. On April 28, Gurriel hit his first career home run, against

Bartolo Colón Bartolo Colón (born May 24, 1973), nicknamed "Big Sexy," is a Dominican-American professional baseball pitcher. He has played for 11 different Major League Baseball (MLB) teams: the Cleveland Indians (1997–2002), Montreal Expos (2002), Chicago ...

of the Texas Rangers. On July 27, Gurriel recorded his first multi-home run game by hitting two home runs in a 10-5 win over the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

. By collecting a pair of singles in Toronto's game against the White Sox the following night, Gurriel became the first rookie in baseball's modern era to have 10 consecutive multi-hit games. The last rookie to accomplish this feat was

Shoeless Joe Jackson Joseph Jefferson Jackson (July 16, 1887 – December 5, 1951), nicknamed "Shoeless Joe", was an American outfielder who played Major League Baseball (MLB) in the early 1900s. Although his .356 career batting average is the fourth highest ...

in 1911. On July 29, Gurriel broke Jackson's rookie record with his 11th consecutive multi-hit game. Jackson also set the overall AL record with an 11-game multi-hit streak in 1912. Simultaneous with breaking Jackson's 1911 rookie record, Gurriel also tied Jackson's all-time AL record. However, on his third hit of the game on July 29, Gurriel was injured, and was subsequently put on the disabled list. On September 25, Gurriel was shut down for the rest of the season with a sore left hamstring. After starting the 2019 season hitting .175 in 13 games and struggling with throws from second base, the Blue Jays

optioned In the film industry, an option is a contractual agreement pertaining to film rights between a potential film producer (such as a movie studio, a production company, or an individual) and the author of source material, such as a book, play, or s ...

Gurriel to the

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen ...

of the

Class AAA Triple-A (officially Class AAA) has been the highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States since 1946. Currently, two leagues operate at the Triple-A level, the International League (IL) and the Pacific Coast League (PCL). ...

International League. At Buffalo, Gurriel began playing as an

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...

. On defense in 2019 with Toronto he led all major league left fielders in assists, with 9. On offense, he finished hitting .277 with 20 home runs in 84 games. Overall with the 2020 Blue Jays, Gurriel batted .308 with 11 home runs and 33 RBIs in 57 games, and was named one of three finalists for the Gold Glove. In 2021, Gurriel set career highs on offense, hitting .276 with 21 home runs and 84 RBIs in 141 games with Toronto. He also set a club record for most grand slams in a season, including a dramatic game-tying slam against the Oakland Athletics on September 5. He also led all left fielders with 12 assists and was named a finalist for the Gold Glove Award for the second consecutive year.

Arizona Diamondbacks

On December 23, 2022, the Blue Jays traded Gurriel and Gabriel Moreno to the

in exchange for Daulton Varsho.

Personal life

His brother, Yuli Gurriel, also played in Cuba before defecting, and later signed with the Houston Astros. His family lives in

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

. Lourdes and his brother made baseball history on September 21, 2018 when each hit two home runs, becoming the first brothers to have multi-homer performances on the same day. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. is the son of Lourdes Gourriel.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gurriel, Lourdes Jr. 1993 births Central American and Caribbean Games gold medalists for Cuba Competitors at the 2014 Central American and Caribbean Games Defecting Cuban baseball players Dunedin Blue Jays players Living people Major League Baseball players from Cuba Cuban expatriate baseball players in the United States Cuban expatriate baseball players in Canada Major League Baseball second basemen Major League Baseball shortstops New Hampshire Fisher Cats players People from Sancti Spíritus Peoria Javelinas players Toronto Blue Jays players 2015 WBSC Premier12 players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Central American and Caribbean Games medalists in baseball