Although he has been selected on several occasions for the award, this year could be historic for the player from Sancti Spíritus
14ymedio/Swing Completo, Havana, 15 October 2024 — Despite the fact that he suffered an injury that took him away from the field for almost a month, and that his team, the Arizona Diamondbacks, failed to get into the final phase, the Cuban baseball player Lourdes Gurriel Jr. has been nominated for the Golden Glove 2024, for best left fielder in the National League. The announcement was made this Tuesday by the MLB.
Gurriel Jr. is the only Cuban to be on that list, in a campaign in which 33 players from the Island were active and where other compatriots such as Yordan Álvarez, Raisel Iglesias and Andy Pagés also stood out.
Standing out in the best baseball in the world has led to sacrifices for Gurriel. To develop the talent he showed since he was 16 years old, when he debuted in the National Baseball Series with the Sancti Spíritus team, in 2010, Yunito, as the 31-year-old athlete is known, had to flee the Island.
Gurriel Jr. represented the Cuban national team during the 58th edition of the Caribbean Series, held in the Dominican Republic
In February 2016, the year he left Cuba, Gurriel Jr. represented the Cuban national team during the 58th edition of the Caribbean Series, held in the Dominican Republic. His brother Yulieski was also on that team and was considered its best player in the tournament. Both were coveted by teams from the United States and, after their participation in the competition, they decided to flee to try to reach the Major Leagues. The regime considered it “a frank attitude of surrender to the merchants of rented and professional baseball,” according to the State newspaper Granma at the time.
Yunito’s first Major League contract was as a rookie. The Toronto Blue Jays paid him a base salary of one million dollars a year.
His father, a Cuban baseball legend, recalled in an interview with the Mexican newspaper Excelsior last year that it is not easy to make the decision. “The path is not easy. If it were, everyone would be leaving Cuba and becoming a star. But no, there is a lot of sacrifice and a very long process of adaptation,” he said.
Before escaping , the brothers, then 31 (Yulieski) and 22 (Lourdes) were the greatest prospects among the first beneficiaries of a pact between the Major Leagues and the sports authorities of the Island that would facilitate a safe and legal passage for the players. The agreement was finally signed in 2018, but a year later Donald Trump, then president of the United States, eliminated it. The reason: the payment for the hiring of the players could contribute to the financing of the Cuban Government and, therefore, violated the US trade embargo on the Island.
Yunito’s first Major League contract was as a rookie. The Toronto Blue Jays paid him a base salary of one million dollars a year
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. is now in his seventh season in the big tent, where so far he has met expectations. He first wore the Toronto Blue Jays uniform, from 2016 to 2022, and then arrived in Arizona, on the team where he currently plays with a fielding percentage of .980; on offense of .279, with 18 home runs, 75 assists and seven stolen bases. The Diamondbacks finished in third place in the western division of the National League, with 89 wins and 73 losses.
Although he has been nominated on several occasions for the Golden Glove, this year could be historic for the player from Sancti Spíritus. “He has a good chance of taking the award home for the first time in his seven-year career in the best baseball in the world, a period where he was once included in the All-Stars,” said Swing Completo.
The Gurriel family is famous in Cuban baseball. In addition to his brother and father, another one who has joined the list is Luis Enrique Gurriel, a cousin of both players, who, at just 12 years old, fled Cuba in January of this year to try to reach the MLB.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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