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Yulieski Gourriel Castillo (born June 9, 1984), commonly known as Yuli Gurriel and nicknamed "La Piña", is a Cuban professional baseball first baseman and third baseman who is a free agent. He has previously played for Sancti Spiritus in the Cuban National Series (CNS), the Yokohama DeNA BayStars of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), and the Houston Astros, Miami Marlins and Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball (MLB). Gurriel is a former member of Cuba's national team,[1] and an Olympic Games gold medalist in 2004. A versatile infielder, he has also played shortstop andsecond base in the major leagues.
The son of former Cuban player Lourdes Gurriel, Yulieski was regarded as the best player in Cuba in 2006.[2] At the World Baseball Classic in 2006, MLB scouts projected that Gurriel would be a first-round draft pick were he eligible for the draft.[2] He defected from Cuba in 2016, and made his major league debut that year.[3]
In his first full MLB season, 33–year old Gurriel helped lead the Astros to the 2017 World Series championship over the Los Angeles Dodgers, making him the fifth player to have won both an Olympic Games gold medal and a World Series title. He also helped lead the club to American League (AL) pennants over the New York Yankees in 2019 and 2022, as well as the Boston Red Sox in 2021. Gurriel won a second World Series title with the Astros over the Philadelphia Phillies in 2022.
In 2021, Gurriel won the AL batting title, becoming the second Cuban-born player to achieve this. At age 37, Gurriel tied Tony Gwynn (.372 in 1997), Barry Bonds (.370 in 2002), and George Brett (.329 in 1990) as the second oldest player in the divisional era (since 1969) to win a batting title; the only player who was older was Bonds, who also led the NL at age 39 in 2004 with a .362 batting average.[4] Gurriel was also the AL Gold Glove Award winner at first base in 2021, becoming the oldest player to win a Gold Glove at that position until Carlos Santana won the award at age 38 in 2024.[5][6]
- ^ Street, Jim (February 10, 2006). "Unsung heroes bound to emerge: Lesser-knowns players will share Classic spotlight with stars". MLB.com. Major League Baseball. Archived from the original on April 14, 2016. Retrieved November 4, 2019.
- ^ a b Manuel, John (March 2, 2006). "World Baseball Classic: Cuba's Yuliesky Gurriel". baseballamerica.com. Baseball America. Retrieved November 4, 2019.
- ^ "Yuli Gurriel Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. 2019. Retrieved November 1, 2019.
- ^ "Players who have won the batting title since 1969, sorted by descending age". Stathead. Retrieved October 11, 2024.
- ^ @MLBStats (November 8, 2021). ".@el_yuly10 is the oldest player (37 years old) to win a Gold Glove at 1B (Age at end of season)" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ Casella, Paul (November 3, 2024). "14 first-timers highlight 2024 Gold Glove winners". MLB.com. Archived from the original on November 3, 2024. Retrieved November 3, 2024.