Lourdes Gurriel Jr.

Gurriel debuted in the Cuban National Series 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.[1] The following season, Gurriel appeared in 55 games and batted .227 with three home runs and 16 runs batted in (RBI).[1] In his final season with Sancti Spíritus, Gurriel hit .253 with four home runs and 32 RBI in 67 games.[1]

In 2013 Gurriel joined the Industriales, playing 45 games and hitting .218 with one home run and 17 RBI.[1] 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.[1] With the Industriales in 2015, Gurriel hit .344 with 10 home runs and 53 RBI.[1] After the Cuban League season, Gurriel agreed to a contract with the Yokohama DeNA BayStars of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), but did not appear in any games for the team and was placed on the restricted list.[2][3]

In February 2016, Gurriel and his brother Yulieski defected after competing in the Caribbean Series in the Dominican Republic.[4]

In August 2016, Gurriel was declared a free agent by Major League Baseball (MLB), and ranked as the sixth best international prospect available.[5] In September, he held a showcase of his skills at Rod Carew Stadium that was attended by 60 MLB scouts.[6] On November 12, Gurriel signed a seven-year, $22 million contract with the Toronto Blue Jays.[7] 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.[8][9] 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.[10] On July 12, Gurriel was promoted to the New Hampshire Fisher Cats of the Double-A Eastern League after appearing in 18 games for Dunedin.[11] In total, Gurriel played in 64 games in 2017 and hit .229 with five home runs and 36 RBI.[1] He played for the Peoria Javelinas of the Arizona Fall League (AFL) during the offseason.[12]

Gurriel began the 2018 season with New Hampshire. He batted .347 in 12 games, and was promoted to the major leagues on April 20.[13] In his debut that night, Gurriel recorded two singles and three RBI.[14] On April 28, Gurriel hit his first career home run, against Bartolo Colón of the Texas Rangers.[15] 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.[16] 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 in 1911.[17] 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.[18] On September 25, Gurriel was shut down for the rest of the season with a sore left hamstring.[19]

After starting the 2019 season hitting .175 in 13 games and struggling with throws from second base, the Blue Jays optioned Gurriel to the Buffalo Bisons of the Class AAA International League.[20] At Buffalo, Gurriel began playing as an outfielder.[21][22]

On defense in 2019 with Toronto he led all major league left fielders in assists, with 9.[23] 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.[24]