Cuban-born left fielder Lourdes Yunielki Gurriel Castillo Jr. plays for the Toronto Blue Jays in Major League Baseball. Before leaving Cuba, he played for Sancti Spiritus and the Industriales in the Cuban National Series.
As a 16-year-old with Sancti Spiritus, Gurriel made his debut in the Cuban National Series in 2010. Gurriel batted.200 in 15 at-bats over 16 games while being used as a pinch hitter.
Gurriel played in 55 games the next year, batting .227 with three home runs and 16 runs batted in (RBI). Gurriel hit .253 with four home runs and 32 RBI in 67 games during his final campaign with Sancti Spiritus.
Who Is Lourdes Gurriel Jr. Brother, Yuli Gurriel?
Yulieski Gourriel Castillo is a first baseman for the Houston Astros of Major League Baseball who is of Cuban descent.
Previously, he played with Sancti Spiritus in the Cuban National Series (CNS) and the Yokohama DeNA BayStars in the Nippon Professional Baseball League (NPB).
Gurriel is a former member of the Cuban national team and Olympic gold medallist from 2004. He has also played third base, second base, and shortstop in the major leagues. He has always been a versatile infielder.
Gurriel led the league in hits and runs scored during the 2004–2005 Cuban National Series (CNS). He led the series in triples, runs, and runs batted in (RBI) in the 2005–06 season, though.
He fell one shy of the record of 28 home runs with 27, which also led the league. Gurriel had a.327 batting average and a.676 slugging percentage. In the Cuban National Series, he played for Sancti Spiritus and Industriales.
In both the 2003 and 2005 World Cup of Baseball tournaments and the 2004 Summer Olympics, Gurriel’s performances enabled the national team takes home a gold medal. He has the most home runs among all batters during the 2005 World Cup with eight.
During the 2006 World Baseball Classic (WBC), Gurriel played second base for the Cuban national baseball team. In their title game loss to Japan, Cuba’s final out was a strikeout.
In the competition, he hit.273, had a .342 on-base percentage, and a .515 slugging percentage. He again made the final out by grounding into a double play against South Korea later in the 2008 Beijing Olympics event finals.
In the 2009 World Baseball Classic, Gurriel once again represented Cuba at third base. In the competition, he had two home runs and six RBIs while batting .333.