Gurriel moves up after finding rhythm
Slowed by injuries, infielder stays on fast track with move to Double-A New Hampshire
Another highly touted Blue Jays prospect is on the move.
Cuban infielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. is headed from the high Class-A Dunedin Blue Jays to the Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats. Gurriel is expected to play his first game for New Hampshire on Thursday, said Gil Kim, the Jays’ player development director.
Gurriel, the youngest son of a prominent Cuban baseball family, signed a long-term deal with Toronto in November but injuries have limited him to 18 minor-league games so far. He hit just .197 with one home run and one double in 69 plate appearances with Dunedin.
Kim says those numbers belie the quality of Gurriel’s recent at-bats, and that Gurriel’s age (23) and extensive experience in Cuba equip him to jump to Double-A.
“He’s getting more comfy at the plate,” Kim said. “Being with the Cuban national team, he’s faced a lot of good pitching in his career.”
The move is the latest in a series involving highly-rated prospects at lower levels of the Jays’ minor league system. The club promoted power hitting infielders Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. last week, from Lansing of the low Class-A Midwest League to Dunedin. The departure of Gurriel, who had been playing shortstop, creates room in Dunedin for Bichette, a shortstop who was leading the Midwest League in batting (.384), OPS (1.071) and total bases (177). Bichette went 0-for-4 with a walk in his Dunedin debut.
Like Bichette and Guerrero, both sons of major league all-stars, Gurriel brought a healthy pedigree with him when he joined the Jays. His father, Lourdes Sr., batted .323 over 20 years in Cuba’s National Series, and older brother Yulieski, currently with the Houston Astros, is widely seen as the finest Cuban player of the modern era.
The Jays signed Lourdes Jr. to a seven-year contract in November worth $22 million (U.S.), eclipsing the four-year, $10-million deal the team agreed to with Cuban shortstop Adeiny Hechavarría in 2010.
But unlike Bichette and Guerrero, Gurriel has had a slow start to his North American pro career.
After Gurriel hit a double in his Florida State League opener April 19, injuries kept him out of Dunedin’s lineup for two full months. He struggled upon returning but found his rhythm this week, collecting four hits in his final 13 at-bats in Dunedin.
The Jays see his recent success as an extension of the potential he showed in Cuba, where he joined the National Series in 2010 at age16. Over six seasons in Cuba, Gurriel logged 1,098 plate appearances, hitting .271 with 27 home runs and 161 RBI.
Gurriel hit .344 in 2015-16, with 10 home runs and a .967 OPS over 59 games. Those numbers reflected both his growth as a player and a decline in the league’s overall quality. Thirty-nine players hit .315 or better that season, and older brother Yulieski batted .500.
While Gurriel has played shortstop and second base this season, Kim said the club hasn’t yet settled on his fielding position. Gurriel committed seven errors in a three-game stretch following his return from injury in June. Kim said Gurriel responded by showing up at Dunedin’s home field six hours before the next game, lugging a bucket of balls out to shortstop and practising his cross-field throws.
“He’s taking extreme ownership of his career instead of dwelling on his mistakes,” Kim said. “He’s athletic. He’s fluid in his actions and he works his tail off.”