Cuban first baseman Yuli Gurriel (39) has finally found a team.
Major League columnist Ken Rosenthal of ‘The Athletic’ said on the 10th (Korean time) that Gurriel has agreed to a contract with the Miami Marlins.
Gurriel has played 801 games for the Houston Astros over the past seven seasons, batting average of 0.284, on-base percentage of 0.328, and slugging percentage of 0.448. He won a Gold Glove in 2021.
Since 2017, he has been active as the team’s main first baseman, and the team has advanced to the Championship Series for six consecutive seasons during this period, and won the World Series championship in 2017.
In the postseason, he played an active part in 85 games with a batting average of 0.267, an on-base percentage of 03.21, a slugging percentage of 0.390, 8 home runs and 39 RBIs. 예스벳 토토
He also ranked first in the American League batting average (0.319) in 2021, but he experienced the worst sluggishness since his debut in 2022. In 146 games, he had a batting average of .242, on-base percentage, .288, slugging percentage, .360, 8 homers, and 53 RBIs.
This is the biggest reason why I belatedly signed the contract at this time when spring camp is heading towards the middle.
Miami is the right team for Gurriel. Currently, Garrett Cooper is the only player on Miami’s 40-man roster who can play first base professionally. There are alternatives such as Jordan Groshans and Gerard Encarnacion, but they lack experience.
Compared to them, Guriel is ahead of them in terms of experience.
MLB.com evaluated Gurriel as a good contact hitter like Luis Araez and Jean Segura. In the 2022 postseason, he went 48 consecutive at-bats without striking out, even tying for fourth in the division.