Slash Line: Lourdes Gurriel Jr's swing signs
Welcome to Slash Line, a column for paid subscribers that you can enjoy with more than one installment per week during the MLB season. Each piece will focus on current and timeless coverage of Cuban players and, as the season progresses, we will also take a look at other Latin players. I hope you enjoy it and subscribe!
For the moment, the Colorado Rockies pitchers will have a week of respite, which seems like enough time to reinvent a better strategy against the D-Backs left fielder, the Cuban Lourdes Gurriel Jr. During the opening series of this season, Gurriel Jr. hit three home runs (in the first three games)*, two doubles and drove in 10 runs.
*The three-game home run streak set a new franchise record, and Gurriel Jr. still maintains his four-game streak with at least one RBI.
This really isn't surprising. We know that Lourdes Gurriel Jr. can hit at the Major League level. In fact, he has shown continued growth as a hitter. In 2023, Gurriel Jr. hit .261 with 35 doubles, 2 triples, 24 home runs, 82 RBIs and 33 walks in 145 games in his first season with the D-backs. He set career highs in games, runs (65), hits (135), doubles (35), home runs (24), extra-base hits (61), total bases (255) and walks (33).
After that solid regular season, Lourdes was one of the leaders in the D-Backs' lineup during the postseason, helping the team reach its first World Series 21 years later. Over the weekend, I've been talking to a lot of friends about all of this, and how fun small samples tend to be. In four games, Gurriel Jr. has hit three home runs, and do you know what that means?