Lourdes Gurriel Jr.

BIOGRAPHY

Lourdes Gurriel Jr. waas born on October 10, 1993, in Sancti Spíritus, Cuba. He plays multiple positions in the MLB.

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. The following season, Gurriel appeared in 55 games and batted .227 with three home runs and 16 runs batted in (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 (NPB), but did not appear in any games for the team and was placed on the restricted list.

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.

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

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

Lourdes and his brother made Major League 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.

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.

On December 23, 2022, the Blue Jays traded Gurriel and Gabriel Moreno to the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for Daulton Varsho.