Yuli Gurriel

Gurriel had a solid season during the 2004–05 Cuban National Series, leading the league in hits and runs. However, he truly dominated in 2005–06, leading the series in RBIs, runs, and triples.[5] His 27 home runs, which also led the league, were one short of the record of 28.[6] Gurriel's batting average was .327, and his slugging percentage was .676. He played his Cuban career with Sancti Spíritus and Industriales of the Cuban National Series.

Gurriel's contributions helped the national team win a gold medal in the 2004 Summer Olympics and World Cup of Baseball championships in 2003 and 2005. During the 2005 World Cup, he led all batters with eight home runs.

Gurriel played second base for the Cuban national baseball team in the 2006 World Baseball Classic,[2] striking out for the final out for Cuba in their championship game loss to Japan. He batted .273 in the tournament, with a .342 on-base percentage and a .515 slugging percentage. Later in the finals of the 2008 Beijing Olympics tournament, he again made the final out, by grounding into a double play against South Korea.[7]

Gurriel played for Cuba again in the 2009 World Baseball Classic, as their third baseman. He batted .333 in the tournament with two home runs and 6 RBIs.

On May 11, 2014, Gurriel signed a one-year contract with the Yokohama DeNA BayStars.[8] He joined the team at midseason, and batted .305 with 11 home runs and 30 RBIs in 62 games.[9]

In February 2016, Gurriel and his 22-year-old brother, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., defected after competing in the Caribbean World Series in the Dominican Republic.[10] The Gurriel brothers relocated to Haiti to establish residency. It was in Haiti in June 2016 that Gurriel met future Houston Astros teammate—also Cuban—Yordan Álvarez.[11] In June, Major League Baseball declared Gurriel eligible to be signed by a major league team as a free agent.[12]

Nearly ten years prior, ESPN.com had erroneously reported that Gurriel and another Cuban national player, Eduardo Paret, had defected from Cuba and into Colombia.[13] Gurriel refuted this claim on August 1, 2006, stating that he returned to his home in Cuba immediately after the conclusion of the tournament in which the Cuban national team had been playing.[14]

On July 16, 2016, Gurriel signed a five-year, $47.5 million contract with the Houston Astros.[15][16] He played a total of 15 games in the Astros' minor league system that year. He made his American debut in July with the Gulf Coast Astros of the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League, playing in two games. He was then promoted to the Lancaster JetHawks of the Class A-Advanced California League. After playing in four games for Lancaster, the Astros promoted Gurriel to the Corpus Christi Hooks of the Class AA Texas League.[17] He batted 2-for-17 (.118) in five games for Corpus Christi, and was promoted to the Fresno Grizzlies of the Class AAA Pacific Coast League.[18] He was recalled from Fresno to the major league roster on August 21. In his first 19 games with the Astros, he batted .344 with three home runs and eight runs batted in, playing mostly first and third base defensively.[19]

Over 139 games in 2017, Gurriel batted .299/.332/.486 for a 121 adjusted OPS (OPS+). Other cumulative totals included 564 plate appearances, 43 doubles, 18 home runs, 75 RBI, 22 bases on balls, and 62 strikeouts.[20] He finished seventh overall in the American League (AL) in doubles, second in at bats per strikeout (8.5),[21] while seeing the fewest number of pitches per plate appearance in the major leagues (3.43).[22] He led major league rookies in batting, ranked second among AL rookies in hits (158) and extra base hits (62), and third in runs (69) and OPS (.817). Gurriel set club rookie records for doubles and extra base hits—previously held by Hunter Pence (30 and 56, 2007); for slugging percentage—previously held by Jeff Bagwell (.437, 1991); and for total bases—previously held by Joe Morgan (251, 1965).[23] Defensively, Gurriel ranked second among AL first basemen in assists with 90.[24]

Following the regular season, Gurriel placed fourth in the AL Rookie of the Year voting.[25] The Houston chapter of the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) named him the Astros Rookie of the Year.[23]

In Game 3 of the World Series, Gurriel hit a home run off Japanese Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Yu Darvish, and upon returning to the dugout, made a racist gesture mocking the pitcher. Gurriel was caught on camera stretching the sides of his eyes and mouthing the Spanish word chinito, which translates to "little Chinese Boy".[26][27] Gurriel apologized, and said that anyone from Asia is called a chino in Cuba, although he acknowledged that he knew the term was offensive from having played in Japan.[26][28] Gurriel was suspended for the first five games of the 2018 season without pay, but not for the World Series.[29] He was required to undergo sensitivity training in the offseason. The Astros said that they would donate Gurriel's salary lost during the suspension to a charity that supports diversity efforts.[30]

In Game 5, Gurriel hit a three-run home run off Dodgers star pitcher Clayton Kershaw in the fourth inning to tie the game 4–4; the Astros would go on to win 13–12. In Game 7, Gurriel faced Darvish again, and tipped his helmet before his at bat as a respectful gesture. The Astros won the game 5–1, giving them their first world championship in franchise history.[31] Gurriel became the fifth player to have won both an Olympic gold medal and a World Series championship, after Orlando Hernández, José Contreras, Pat Borders and Doug Mientkiewicz.[32]

After each hitting two home runs on September 21, 2018, Gurriel and brother Lourdes, Jr., became the first pair of brothers to hit multi-home run games in the major leagues on the same day; Lourdes' was as a member of the Toronto Blue Jays. Yuli Gurriel was named AL Player of the Week for the first time on September 23, 2018, having batted .462, .923 SLG, eight runs scored, three home runs, and 10 RBI.[33] For the 2018 season, he batted .291/.323/.428.

Gurriel became the first Astro with a run and RBI in seven consecutive games, and the fifth to homer in five consecutive games, on July 7, 2019, including a game-tying grand slam in doing so in an 11–10 win versus the Los Angeles Angels. He won the AL Player of the Week Award for the week ending July 8, his second weekly honor, after homering in all five of the Astros games for a total of six, among nine hits and an OPS of 1.812.[34] He went on to win the AL Player of the Month Award for July, his first time, after batting .398, .427 OBP, .837 SLG, 18 runs scored, seven doubles, 12 home runs, 31 RBIs over 24 games.[35] In a 14–3 romp over the Colorado Rockies on August 7, Gurriel homered and tied J. R. Towles with eight RBIs for the club record in one game.[36]

In Game 7 of the 2019 World Series versus the Washington Nationals, Gurriel hit a first inning solo home run off Max Scherzer to give the Astros a 1–0 lead. The Astros eventually lost the game, 6-2, as the Nationals earned their first major league championship.[1]

In 2020, Gurriel endured his most challenging season in the major leagues to date. He batted .232/.274/.384 with 27 runs, six home runs, 22 RBI, and five sacrifice flies (tied for second in the AL) in 211 at bats, playing 55 games at first base and two at DH.[20] In an expanded postseason format, he went 5-for-44 – all singles[37] – as the Tampa Bay Rays defeated the Astros in the ALCS.[38]

On September 29, 2020, the Astros signed Gurriel to a one-year extension with a club option for 2022.[37]

Following the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, Gurriel lost 15 pounds (6.8 kg). On May 7, 2021, versus the Blue Jays, he recorded four hits, including one home run, and four RBIs. Through 31 games in the season, he had surpassed his RBI total (24) and walk total (16) in 2020 while batting .342/.420/.553 and leading the Astros with 12 multi-hit games and in RBIs.[37] In the final game of the 2021 regular season, Gurriel hit a walk-off single to score Jason Castro and defeat the Oakland Athletics.[39]

In 2021, Gurriel batted .319 to edge out teammate Michael Brantley and Blue Jay Vladimir Guerrero Jr. for the AL batting title. At age 37, he was the sixth-oldest player to win a batting title, the oldest to win their first batting title since Barry Bonds in 2002, and the first Cuban player since Tony Oliva in 1971.[40] Gurriel tied for the major league lead in sacrifice flies, with 12.[41] His final slash line included .319/.383/.462, 15 home runs, 81 RBIs, a career-best 59 walks and 68 strikeouts. He also led the Astros in on-base percentage (OBP, .383), hits (169), and walk-to-strikeout ratio (.868).[39] On defense, Gurriel led all AL first basemen with 86 assists and ranked in the top five with five defensive runs saved, 1,147 total chances, 95 double plays and a .994 fielding percentage. He won his first career Gold Glove Award, becoming the second Astro to win the award at the position and first since Bagwell.[42]

In the ALCS versus the Boston Red Sox, Gurriel batted .455./.520/.636, with 10 hits, one home run, one double, six RBI, one stolen base, three bases on balls, and one strikeout. In the World Series, Gurriel batted .273 with no home runs and two RBIs as the Astros lost to the Atlanta Braves in six games.[20] Gurriel was, again, the final out of the series, grounding to Braves shortstop Dansby Swanson. This marked the third time Gurriel was the final out of a championship-clinching game. An announcement became public on November 3 that the Astros had picked up Gurriel's option for 2022.[43]

As a right-handed batter, Gurriel is unusual in the sense that he has a better batting average against right handed pitchers than left-handers, and is better at batting against breaking balls away from the bat, esp. sliders.