BIOGRAPHY
Yuli Gurriel was born June 9, 1984, in Sancti Spiritus, Cuba. He is a first baseman in the MLB.
On July 16, 2016, Gurriel signed a five-year, $47.5 million contract with the Houston Astros. 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.
In Game 3 of the 2017 World Series, Gurriel hit a home run off Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Yu Darvish. 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. 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.
Following the pandemic-shortened 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 just 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 RBI. In the final game of the 2021 regular season, Gurriel hit a walk-off single to score Jason Castro and defeat the Oakland Athletics.
In 2021, he batted .319 to narrowly edge out teammate Michael Brantley and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. for the American League 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. Gurriel tied for the major league lead in sacrifice flies, with 12. His final slash line included .319/.383/.462, 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). 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.
In 2022, Gurriel batted .242/.288/.360 in 545 at bats with 8 home runs, 53 RBIs, and a career-high 8 stolen bases. He led the Astros with 40 doubles, ranking sixth in the AL, and was fifth in the league in AB/SO ratio (7.9).
In the 2022 ALDS, Gurriel played a crucial role in a sweep over the Mariners, batting .400/.400/1.000 with one home run, one stolen base, and no strikeouts over 15 at bats. It was his third postseason series with an OPS of at least 1.000, and first since the 2021 ALCS versus Boston.
On March 10, 2023, Gurriel signed a one-year minor league contract with the Miami Marlins. On March 26, the Marlins announced that Gurriel had made the Opening Day roster and would have his contract selected to the 40-man roster.
